Study Says Illinois Roads Aren't Great But Not as Bad as We Think

President Biden has unveiled a $2.25T infrastructure spending bill, and $650B of that money will go to improve roads and bridges in America.

I'm sure we can use some of that dough in Illinois because, while we're not the worst, the state has some roads and bridges that need serious improvement, Rockford included.

That said, Illinois doesn't rank in the top 10 or bottom 10 in Zutobi's Worst Roads in the US.

Using data from the United States Bureau of Transportation Statistics website, Zutobi says Illinois came in at 29th overall for road quality and studies show conditions have worsened over the past five years. In 2015, 81.6% of the roads were acceptable dipping to 80.8% in 2020.

If you think the roads are rough in Illinois, South Carolina took the top "honor" of having the worst roads in America.

Zutobi:

Coming in at the very bottom with the worst roads in the country is South Carolina. It’s the only state to be scored below 50% on just 4.72, and it has the highest highway fatality rate of 1.83.

Meanwhile, a few states in the midwest have some of the best according to the study.

Indiana ranked 9th overall, with Wisconsin coming right before at 8.

Things could be worse for Illinois, especially if you dig deeper. A study from late in 2020 by The Telegraph says "Illinois ranks 32nd in structurally deficient bridges, 32nd in urban interstate pavement condition, and 42nd in capital and bridge costs per mile. Its worst category performance was traffic congestion, ranking 49th."

Could be worse, I guess. We could be driving on South Carolina roads.