Report cites high spending, poor conditions on NY's state roads

The Empire State spends more per road mile than 48 other states, but pavement conditions are still poor, according to a new report.

The Annual Highway Report, released by Reason Foundation, a free-market think tank based in California, ranked each of the 50 states in 13 categories that include spending, pavement quality, safety and congestion.

For the spending categories, the more money per mile that states spent, the lower they were ranked.

New York came in 49th place for total spending per mile of state-controlled road —

$373,555 per mile — which is $271,316 more per mile than California and $130,958 more per mile than Florida, according to the report.

New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts, Florida, and Rhode Island have the highest per lane-mile expenditures in the country on state roads.

The report used data submitted by state highway agencies to the federal government from 2019 and looked at 2020 traffic data from transportation analytics company INRIX. The study also relied on a bridge report compiled by construction-focused media company Equipment World, based in Alabama.

New York ranked low in 10 areas, including in maintenance expenditures per mile, total disbursements per mile, capital bridge disbursements per mile — meaning costs were high in those areas — and urban area congestion.

While the study notes that costs in New York are higher than in some other states, it claims New York’s spending doesn’t result in higher quality roads or bridges, or in less traffic.

"Typically, if you’re spending more money, you’re getting a better system, but that’s not happening in New York," Baruch Feigenbaum, lead author of the report and senior managing director of transportation policy at Reason Foundation, said in a phone interview.

The report found that New York’s pavement and bridge conditions are lacking. The state was ranked 46th for urban interstate pavement condition, and 39th for rural interstate pavement condition.

As far as traffic, New York was among four states with the worst congestion, coming in at 47th place. Motorists get stuck in an average of 53.60 hours of traffic annually in the state, according to the study.

But it isn't all doom and gloom: New York had the sixth lowest overall fatality rate on all roadways. And in overall highway performance, the state is faring better than a handful of states, including New Jersey, which ranked last.

In response to the report, Glenn Blain, a spokesperson for the state’s Department of Transportation, said, "New York has one of the most aggressive road and bridge renewal programs in the United States and is investing more in the modernization of its transportation infrastructure than at any other point in the state’s history."

The $1.2 trillion federal infrastructure bill also is expected to help revitalize the state’s transportation system.

"These investments enhance safety for the traveling public, and foster economic competitiveness for New York, which faces challenges that other states do not, including the age of existing infrastructure, extreme weather, and high traffic volumes," Blain added.

Feigenbaum said New York has consistently ranked in the bottom tier for spending and highways and hopes any new funding "will be spent wisely."

"For motorists, I think it’s frustrating," Feigenbaum added. "It just shouldn’t be costing the amount of money that it does, in order to get this quality of a roadway system."