Sunday, November 25, 2018

PUBLIC ROAD LENGTH BY STATE 2011 - 2016

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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