Ohio has the tenth best highways in the nation in terms of cost-effectiveness and condition, according to a new report from The Reason Foundation.

The Buckeye State’s new rank is an improvement from Reason’s last annual report, which ranked Ohio as 17th.

Every year, The Reason Foundation —a libertarian think tank— ranks the nation’s state highway systems on cost effectiveness, condition and a slew of other metrics. The data for this year’s report, titled the 28th Annual Highway Report, is from 2022.

Where did Ohio do well?

Ohio received top ten rankings on three metrics: rural arterial pavement condition, rural fatality rate and capital and bridge disbursement rate.

• The state’s rural arterial highways —two to four-lane highways connecting cities or regions— have the ninth-best pavement condition, with just 0.36% of these roadways in poor condition.
• Ohio’s fatality rate on the state’s rural highways is the ninth lowest at a rate of 0.86 deaths per 100 million rural vehicle miles.
• Ohio’s capital and bridge disbursement rate is the sixth lowest at 0.55. The ratio comes from the expected cost of bridge and highway construction divided by the amount Ohio actually spends. A lower ratio means the state manages to complete construction for less money than expected.

Where did Ohio’s highways do poorly?

Ohio received bottom-twenty rankings in three categories: urban interstate pavement condition, urban arterial pavement condition and other fatalities rate.

• The condition of Ohio’s urban interstates came in at rank 32 with 4.15% of these roadways in poor condition.
• The condition of Ohio’s urban arterial roadways —four to eight lane highways that connect different parts of an urban region— came in at rank 36 with 12.88% of these roadways in poor condition.
• Ohio’s fatality rate on “other” roadways —defined by The Reason Foundation as minor arterial, collector and local roads— was ranked 31st at 1.56 deaths per 100 million vehicle road miles on these roadways.

How does Ohio stack up against other states?

Ohio’s overall highway performance is better than Kentucky’s, Indiana’s, Michigan’s, West Virginia’s and Pennsylvania’s, according to The Reason Foundation.

When compared to other states with similar population sizes, its highways are worse than Illinois’ but better than Georgia’s.

NHart@dispatch.com

@NathanRHart