As might be
expected, Texas has the most miles of public roads of any state. However, I
find it surprising that Texas has a whopping 27% more miles of roads than
second place California. It is also surprising that neither Pennsylvania (11) nor
New York (14) placed in the top 10.
While the states
with small land area; Rhode Island (49), Delaware (48), Vermont (47), and New
Hampshire (45) have the least miles of public roads, being a large state does
not correlate to having the most miles of public roads. Large states with fewer
miles of public roads include; Alaska (46), Wyoming (42) and Nevada (37).
Obviously, population matters.
Another outlier is
Kansas (4). I am guessing that Kansas’ mileage is the result of there being
little, if any, wilderness areas in Kansas. Compare Kansas’ land area of 82,277
square miles and population of 2.91 million to Arizona’s 113,998 square miles
and 7.02 million people. Kansas is 4th in total road miles and
Arizona is 32nd. Obviously, wilderness matters.
Also noteworthy is
the miles of roads that have been added (or reduced) from 2011 to 2016. The top
5 states to add road miles are; Oregon, South Carolina, California, Illinois,
and Nevada. All of those states with the exception of Illinois are growing in
population.
Eleven states have fewer
miles of public roads in 2016, led by Washington with 3,351 fewer miles of
roads than they did in 2011.
Why Oregon, which
is Washington’s next door neighbor would have the greatest increase in miles
added, and Washington would have the greatest decrease in road miles is a
mystery. (JKS)
STATE
|
2011
|
2016
|
CHANGE
|
Texas
|
312,911
|
313,656
|
745
|
California
|
172,202
|
180,800
|
8,598
|
Illinois
|
139,498
|
145,892
|
6,394
|
Kansas
|
140,513
|
142,047
|
1,534
|
Minnesota
|
138,702
|
138,794
|
92
|
Missouri
|
131,667
|
131,807
|
140
|
Georgia
|
123,546
|
128,335
|
4,789
|
Ohio
|
123,247
|
122,974
|
-273
|
Florida
|
121,759
|
122,736
|
977
|
Michigan
|
122,086
|
122,115
|
29
|
Pennsylvania
|
119,771
|
120,446
|
675
|
Wisconsin
|
115,018
|
115,458
|
440
|
Iowa
|
114,387
|
114,741
|
354
|
New York
|
114,592
|
113,499
|
-1,093
|
Oklahoma
|
112,808
|
112,988
|
180
|
North Carolina
|
105,869
|
106,522
|
653
|
Arkansas
|
100,082
|
102,616
|
2,534
|
Alabama
|
101,668
|
101,975
|
307
|
Indiana
|
97,066
|
96,616
|
-450
|
Tennessee
|
95,492
|
95,737
|
245
|
Nebraska
|
93,600
|
94,988
|
1,388
|
Colorado
|
88,415
|
88,828
|
413
|
North Dakota
|
86,851
|
87,397
|
546
|
South Dakota
|
82,459
|
82,557
|
98
|
Washington
|
83,743
|
80,392
|
-3,351
|
Kentucky
|
79,220
|
79,942
|
722
|
Mississippi
|
75,119
|
77,027
|
1,908
|
South Carolina
|
65,997
|
76,067
|
10,070
|
Virginia
|
74,641
|
75,096
|
455
|
Montana
|
74,880
|
73,610
|
-1,270
|
Oregon
|
59,148
|
73,529
|
14,381
|
New Mexico
|
68,384
|
69,111
|
727
|
Arizona
|
65,092
|
66,035
|
943
|
Louisiana
|
61,635
|
61,411
|
-224
|
Idaho
|
48,533
|
51,342
|
2,809
|
Utah
|
45,635
|
46,769
|
1,134
|
Nevada
|
36,839
|
42,582
|
5,743
|
New Jersey
|
39,213
|
39,071
|
-142
|
West Virginia
|
38,646
|
38,770
|
124
|
Massachusetts
|
36,303
|
36,632
|
329
|
Maryland
|
32,321
|
32,147
|
-174
|
Wyoming
|
28,253
|
28,326
|
73
|
Maine
|
22,874
|
22,898
|
24
|
Connecticut
|
21,445
|
21,531
|
86
|
New Hampshire
|
16,076
|
16,157
|
81
|
Alaska
|
16,675
|
15,528
|
-1,147
|
Vermont
|
14,290
|
14,253
|
-37
|
Delaware
|
6,358
|
6,427
|
69
|
Rhode Island
|
6,485
|
6,052
|
-433
|
Hawaii
|
4,405
|
4,469
|
64
|
District of Columbia
|
1,501
|
1,509
|
8
|
United States
|
4,077,756
|
4,140,108
|
62,352
|
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