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Magazine ranks Idaho highways in middle of pack

Idaho drivers will not experience the nation’s best highways when driving through the state, nor will they ride on the worst, according to a recent survey by Reader’s Digest. In fact, the condition of Idaho highways ranks nearly in the middle at 23rd.

Where will you find the best highways, on average, in the nation? Kansas, the report indicates. The worst is at the other end of the Mississippi River in Louisiana.

Most of the other Northwest states rank ahead of Idaho in the national survey, led by Montana at No. 3, Utah at No. 5, Wyoming at No. 7, Oregon at No. 10 and Washington at No. 12.

Ironically, according to Reader’s Digest, Montana heads the list of all 50 states in having the “deadliest” roads. Idaho ranks 12th on the list. By inference, the safest roads are in Massachusetts (ranked 50th on the list of deadly roads).

Montana also ranked atop the list of the 10 “deadliest for DUI" (driving under the influence), and sixth for the top 10 list of “deadliest for speeding.” Idaho did not make either top 10 list.

“America is spending more money to build, maintain and improve the roads, and it’s paying off – give or take a few stretches of pavement and a few bridge spans,” the magazine reports. “Rural interstates are shaping up, for instance, but their heavily traveled urban counterparts are getting worse.”

Reader’s Digest says the percentage of deficient bridges increased for the first time in 25 years in 2009, and “as almost any driver will attest, congestion isn’t going away.

“But these trends are more than offset by good news about fatalities – sharply down year over year from 2006 to 2008 (though 2008, 37261 Americans died in accidents – more than double the number who died from homicides.)”

The report considered such factors as data for spending, congestion, road and bridge condition and safety. The report is available online at: http://www.readersdigest.com