For the second consecutive year and the fifth time in a decade, truckers say Pennsylvania has the worst roads in the country, according to the annual Highway Report Card survey conducted by Overdrive magazine.
Among the chief complaints: the conditions of the Pennsylvania Turnpike, I-78 and I-80, and poor signage. Owner-operator Bernard Linkhauer says Keystone State highways “will beat and bang you around.” The Pittsburgh-area resident says repairs along the turnpike amount to a Band-Aid. “It looks good, and it lasts a little while, but then it’s back to square one.”
For the second year in a row, the Lone Star state shines with the best roads. Not all truckers agree, though. Texan Judy Selzer disputes Overdrive readers’ high praise of Texas highways. “Any time I get on 1-35 to go to San Antonio, [the road is] rough, and it will tear your equipment up,” she says.
More than 300 Overdrive magazine readers responded to the Highway Report Card survey in fall 2005. About 27 percent of respondents deliver in all 48 states, and 57 percent report 21 years or more in the industry.
Below are some excerpts from the survey results.
HIGHWAY REPORT CARD 2005
WORST ROADS
Pennsylvania
Missouri
Louisiana
Michigan
California
BEST ROADS
Texas
Florida
Tennessee
Georgia, Ohio (tie)
Nevada, Virginia (tie)
WORST HIGHWAYS
I-10 Louisiana
I-44 Missouri
I-95 New York
BEST HIGHWAYS
I-75 Florida
I-40 Tennessee
I-10 Texas
MOST IMPROVED HIGHWAYS
I-40 Arkansas
I-80 Pennsylvania
I-30 Arkansas
