September 30th, 2016 by WCBC Radio

A recent study from the Reason Foundation shows improvements in West Virginia’s highway performance and cost-effectiveness, ranking it 25^th in the nation.  The previous report ranked West Virginia 34^th.

“This rating increase illustrates our focus and the steps we have taken to improve the operation of our highway system.  Considering West Virginia’s funding challenges, the fact that we rank 2^nd in total disbursements at $36,451 per mile is quite remarkable, especially when the national average is $160,997 per mile.  Equally notable is the ranking of 8^th in administrative disbursements per mile, which shows that we have a high percentage of our budget going back into West Virginia’s highway system. We plan to continue our efforts in these areas, to enhance our efforts to reduce fatalities, and hope to obtain an even higher rating in the future,” said Transportation Secretary Paul Mattox.

West Virginia's state-controlled highway mileage of nearly 35,000 miles, makes it the 6th largest system in the country. 

The Reason Foundation’s Annual Highway Report ranks every state’s highway system on pavement condition, traffic congestion, deficient bridges, traffic fatality rates, spending per-mile and more.  It is based on spending and performance data that state highway agencies submit themselves to the federal government.