Louisiana Voice

Louisiana’s streets, roads, and highways are a disgrace. And we’re slipping.

The Annual Highway Report, compiled by Reason Foundation and released last November, ranks Louisiana as having the 16^th worst system of roads in the nation, down from 20^th worst just two years ago.

The REASON FOUNDATION, a libertarian-leaning organization, employs journalism and public policy research to “develop frameworks and actions of policymakers, journalists, and opinion leaders,” according to its web page.

While the foundation ranks Louisiana 35^th overall, there are five individual categories in which the state ranks among the 10 worst in the nation:

• Urban interstate pavement condition: 49^th.
• Rural interstate pavement condition: 43^rd.
• Rural arterial pavement condition: 44^th.
• Structurally deficient bridges: 45^th.
• Overall fatality rate: 43^rd.

But hey, we don’t need a SURVEY  to know our roads are in pitiful condition. If you do any driving at all, you’ve played the pothole-dodge game. It doesn’t matter if you’re on a residential street or one of our six interstate highways (a small section of I-59 runs through the extreme eastern toe of the state), you’ve encountered potholes.

Another problem is when repair work is done on potholes, the work is generally sloppy and doesn’t really solve the problem. I watched a crew repairing a street in Denham Springs with hot mix, which is supposed to be rolled with a PAVEMENT ROLLING MACHINE to pack down the asphalt properly. This crew was tamping it down with the shovel part of a FRONT-END LOADER. Wrong tool for the wrong job.

The 10 worst contains some surprises:

• New Jersey: the worst.
• Rhode Island: 2^nd worst.
• Alaska: 3^rd worst.
• Hawaii: 4^th worst.
• New York: 5^th worst.
• California: 6^th worst.
• Delaware: 7^th worst.
• Massachusetts: 8^th worst.
• Washington: 9^th worst.
• Florida: 10^th worst.

Then came Illinois (11^th worst), Pennsylvania (12^th worst), and Maryland (13^th worst), Colorado 14^th worst), Oklahoma (15^th worst), and Louisiana.

So, where do Louisiana’s nearest neighbors rank? That, too, might surprise you unless you do a lot of driving in those states. Mississippi, Texas, and Arkansas have the 15^th, 16^th, and 17^th best highway systems in the nation, respectively. Georgia is 14^th best but sandwiched in between Georgia and Mississippi is Alabama, whose roadways are ranked 28^th best (or 23^rd worst, depending upon your perspective).

That begs the obvious question of which state has the best roads? That distinction belongs on none other than North Dakota, followed by Virginia (2^nd), Missouri (3^rd) Kentucky (one of our poorest states, ranked 4^th best in roads), and North Carolina (5^th).

The Reason Foundation’s survey raises a few other questions when taking a closer look at the Louisiana ranks.

We rank 15^th in the nation in total disbursements per mile, 12^th in capital and bridge disbursements per mile, and 7^th in administrative disbursements per mile.

If we’re spending all that money on capital and bridge, administrative and overall disbursements, just where the hell is all that money going?

Could it possibly be that we’re not getting all we’re paying for?

A little history might suggest just that. Remember the case of JEFF MERCER, who claimed way back in 2014 that he was denied payment for work he performed because he resisted SHAKEDOWN attempts by a DOTD inspector?

A state just doesn’t rank that high in expenditures on road and highway construction and maintenance and rank as low as it does in road and highway conditions without an extraordinary amount of waste – or worse.

So, while we continue to complain about urbanized area congestion (which, incidentally, we are ranked 21^st worst in the nation), the money is being doled out to someone for something but Louisiana motorists are seeing little evidence of those expenditures.

When that kind of money is spent and these kinds of roads are the result, IT JUST DON’T ADD UP.

Meanwhile, yet another study is taking place about the feasibility of constructing a new bridge over the Mississippi River to relieve congestion in Baton Rouge. In 2019, it was announced that the potential sites for the bridge had been narrowed down to FIVE . That certainly made the study less expensive.

But wait. This past November, it was announced that the number of POTENTIAL SITES had jumped to 17, which made the study both more complex and expensive.

Last January, it was announced that the decision on a location – not construction or even the awarding of a contract, but a LOCATION – could be four years away.

Despite its high ranking in expenditures, the foundation suggests that the state could “direct more resources toward its highway system,” adding that Louisiana “is one of the few that spends relatively little and has very poor system conditions.” It was unclear how Louisiana could rank so high in expenditures while the foundation was saying it spends “relatively little” on roads and highways.

“Louisiana could examine how Arkansas and Mississippi are able to get better quality highways and bridges at an equivalent cost,” the report said. “The state may also need to add resources to improve its system.”

The Reason Foundation’s report pretty much summed up the condition of Louisiana roads and highways in saying, “The state’s pavement quality and percentage of structurally deficient bridges are disproportionately bad and the biggest driver of its poor overall rankings. While not every highway can be free of potholes, Louisiana has twice as much urban interstate pavement in poor condition as Arkansas and four times as much as Mississippi.”

For a state whose unofficial motto is “At Least We’re Not Mississippi,” that’s pretty embarrassing.