Minnesota Roads Ranked Best In The United States

A new Consumer Affairs study regarding roads in the United States has found Minnesota to have the country's best.

The study used factors such as fatalities per 100 million miles driven, percentage of surveyed people who ranked rural roads 'poor,' percentage of urban roads rated 'poor' and the yearly budget for road improvement.

Minnesota ranked second-best in fatalities per 100 million miles driven at 0.76. Massachusetts took the top spot in that category with 0.63 fatalities per 100 million miles driven.

Only 3% of those surveyed classified their rural road as 'poor,' which finished in the middle of the pack. Kansas, North Carolina, Missouri, Nevada, Florida, Alabama and Georgia only had one percent of their respective rural roads rated poor to tie for the top spot.

Only 5% of those surveyed considered Minnesota's urban roads to be rough/poor, which was the lowest in the country. Tied with Minnesota's score were Georgia, Florida and Alabama.

Minnesota finished just outside the top ten in total spend on road expenditures at $4.284 billion. New York ($24.125 billion), Texas ($22.98 billion) and California ($21.75 billion) were the top three.

Our neighbor to the east, Wisconsin, did not fare as well in this study, finishing with the fifth-worst score. 28% of the state's respondents consider their urban roads 'poor,' while the state sees 1.07 fatalities per 100 million miles driven.

Consumer Affairs:

"The North Star State beckons with some of the smoothest, safest roads in the country — an especially admirable achievement since Minnesota’s cold temperatures, significant snowfall and proximity to the Great Lakes create a hazardous set of conditions that can be tough on roads and drivers.

With the second-lowest rate of fatalities per mile driven and the third-largest span of rural roads in the country, Minnesota puts its modest budget to good use. And the state multitasks in the country and the city, earning some of the lowest roughness percentages for both urban and rural roads in the United States.

What do Minnesotans have to say about their roads? Some residents in our survey simply described the roads as “good” or “pretty good,” but others went the extra mile in their praise. “My state roads are always taken care of. There are no potholes, the lanes are nice and wide, and the white/yellow lines are always up to date.”