Report: La. roads 36th best in nation
Advocate (excerpt)

State highway conditions in Louisiana are 36th best in the nation, according to a national report issued on Friday. That marks a rise of seven spots since the last such rankings, the Reason Foundation said in its 19th annual review. The figures are based on 2008 data.

The Reason Foundation calls itself a nonprofit group that promotes libertarian policies. Montana is listed as the top state in the nation for state highway performance and cost effectiveness. Rhode Island is rated 50th.

Louisiana faces a $12.5 billion backlog of road and bridge repairs. Efforts to boost funding have failed in recent years, in part because of state financial problems. However, the state is widening Interstate 12 from O’Neal Lane to Juban Road, and eventually to Walker, and I-10 from the I-10/12 split to Highland Road because of previous commitments. Those projects are set to be done by late 2012 at a cost of $332 million. The reports says Louisiana ranks 28th in urban interstate congestion, 44th in urban interstate conditions and 39th in deficient or functionally obsolete bridges. The state is listed as 8th in state-controlled highway miles and 49th in fatality rates.