Would you be surprised to learn 海角换妻鈥檚 roads are ranked among the worst in the country? According to the , the state has more than 2,100 miles of poorly rated roads 鈥� placing it fifth worst nationwide, as recently .
A matter of data, not just damage
Eric Jackson, executive director of the 海角换妻 Transportation Institute, says the ranking doesn鈥檛 entirely align with what he sees on the ground.
"I don't see 海角换妻's roads as being any worse than other states," Jackson said. He attributes part of the ranking to the sheer depth of data collection done here: 鈥淲e're a small state, so we can collect essentially every single mile, where maybe other states are doing other data collection methods that may not be as robust as we are here in 海角换妻.鈥�
Jackson also noted that 海角换妻鈥檚 role as a pass-through for freight vehicles may be skewing the numbers. 鈥淲e're kind of a pass-through state for a lot of the truck traffic that goes through, and they really beat up the roadways here in 海角换妻,鈥� he said.
But the data isn鈥檛 all bad news.
鈥淢aybe being on the top of the list isn't the worst thing. Maybe we'll get more funding to fix the roadways,鈥� Jackson said, noting that the HPMS system is used in part to allocate federal infrastructure dollars.
Just how many roads are we talking about?
When asked whether 2,100 miles constituted most of 海角换妻鈥檚 roads, Jackson clarified: 鈥淭here's over 4,000 center-line miles of roadway in 海角换妻 that are state run, and there's probably about 10 times that on the local system.鈥�
What really causes crashes
While poor pavement might cause frustration, Jackson said it's not a leading factor in crashes statewide.
鈥淪o, we've done several different studies,鈥� he said. 鈥淩eally and truly, the major cause of a lot of the crashes we're seeing is just bad human behaviors out on the roadway. If people are speeding, if they're not braking properly, if they're not paying attention, that's predominantly what's causing a lot of our crashes.鈥�
Pavement labs and nighttime visibility
Jackson outlined some of the work happening at the University of 海角换妻 to improve road quality.
鈥淲e have a pavement laboratory here at the university, working with primarily the 海角换妻 DOT to understand pavement life longevity, how to prevent potholes, different mix designs and ways to make our pavement system last longer,鈥� he said.
He also defended what may seem like premature repaving efforts.
鈥淎 lot of people complain about preventative maintenance that's done,鈥� he said. 鈥淧eople will say, 鈥楳y road鈥檚 only six years old, and they're already repaving it.鈥� It's doing that to try and extend the life of the base and the pavement that's out there.鈥�
Another project focuses on lane markings. 鈥淲e've got a vehicle that's going out to try and look at lane markings and how reflective they are in keeping the quality of those lane markings up high enough that people don't run into sight issues at night while they're driving,鈥� Jackson said.
A funding conundrum in the age of EVs
Jackson warned that the growing popularity of electric vehicles threatens to undermine traditional road funding mechanisms.
鈥淪o, the biggest challenge that we are facing right now is the electrification of our vehicle fleet,鈥� he said. 鈥淭here is no gas tax on electric vehicles. So the more electric vehicles that switch over鈥� there's nothing on the electric vehicle side helping to fund the roadways that are out there.鈥�
But with EV adoption accelerating, Jackson said, 鈥淭hat's one of the major policy conundrums that we have to find a solution to.鈥�
