Oklahoma Roads Get High Marks In New Report

Oklahoma's road ratings are in, and the state ranks in the middle of the pack, coming in 24th. News On 6 anchor Scott Thompson reports that's up six spots from the year 2000, but drivers say they're

Thursday, June 28th 2007, 4:50 pm

By: News On 6

Oklahoma's road ratings are in, and the state ranks in the middle of the pack, coming in 24th. News On 6 anchor Scott Thompson reports that's up six spots from the year 2000, but drivers say they're still hoping for more improvement.

"It's not a pretty picture," driver Theresa Wiggins said.

Theresa Wiggins knows how she'd rate Oklahoma's roads.

"Pretty bad,â€ she said. â€œPhil told me that my tire could have fallen off at any point in time, and it was driving the car under a very hazardous condition."

Theresa hit a pothole on her way home from work on the Broken Arrow Expressway, and her broken tie-rod set her back $400.

A new report puts Oklahoma's urban Interstates in the bottom five in the country. We're ranked 46th. Bad bridges put the state in the bottom ten at 42nd, one in three is deficient. But nationally, the report puts Oklahoma in the middle at 24, still lower than most neighboring states, especially Kansas and New Mexico, ranked third and fourth.

The rankings factor in congestion, fatalities, and spending efficiency. Oklahoma gets credit for doing more with less. The state receives $71,000 for every mile of highway. Massachusetts gets ten times more, and New Jersey receives 33 times more, getting $2.3 million per mile. Even with all that money, New Jersey ranks dead last in the ratings. That's little comfort to Oklahoma drivers like Wiggins who wants to see more than a temporary patch on the problem.

"Fix our roads, period. Repave BA. It needs it, especially coming into town and going out of town. They just need to get after it and appropriate the money," said Wiggins.

According to the study, North Dakota has the best roads in the country.

To read the report, click here.

Watch the video: Pothole Riddled Highways Get High Marks