Why This Is Important

Pavement condition has an impact on the operating costs of passenger and commercial vehicles.  Regularly scheduled preventive maintenance, preservation and reconstruction treatments extend the useful life of pavements in the State Highway System.

How We Measure It

Roughness and rutting are measured by driving a specially equipped rating van over the entire State Highway System during spring and summer.  Cracking is measured in the summer and fall by a visual inspection and digital video recordings of the System.  The collected data and the visual inspections are then used to rate pavement conditions as good, fair, poor or very poor.

What We're Doing About It

ITD focuses on internal efficiencies to maximize investments in the system.  Investment decisions are prioritized to keep highways in good or fair condition to avoid costly replacement.  The department has implemented new management systems to strategically schedule preventative maintenance and preservation projects at the optimal time across the state.

*Beginning in 2019, ITD is now required as part of the federal MAP-21 legislation for National Highway System (NHS) elements, to report and forecast pavement distress/performance at a 0.1-mile basis.  This means that each 0.1-miles individual performance is captured and contributes to the computation of the system overall performance.  This method yields a better measure of overall pavement performance.