ST. LOUIS — While Missouri’s highway system has been ranked among the nation’s top 15 states for the past six years by a research firm, an annual report lists what the state does well and some key issues.

Reason Foundation has ranked Missouri’s highway system 11th in the nation in overall cost-effectiveness and condition, citing that the state is second in capital and bridge costs per mile,15th in maintenance spending per mile, and ninth in rural interstate pavement condition. 

“Missouri’s state-controlled highway mileage makes it the sixth largest highway system in the country,” the report states. 

The Show-Me state’s worst rankings include urban congestion, structurally deficient bridges and urban fatality rates as key problems, according to the report. The state has been ranked 17th in rural fatality rate, 42nd in urban fatality rate, 39th in structurally deficient bridges, 38th in traffic congestion, and 24th in urban interstate pavement condition.

“Missouri’s 28.1 hours of urbanized area congestion is 1.1 times higher than peer state Kansas’ rate and 1.4 times higher than peer state Louisiana’s rate,” the report states. 

“Missouri’s 9.02% of structurally deficient bridges is 1.8 times higher than Kansas’ percent but lower than Louisiana’s percent. Finally, Missouri’s 1.30 urban fatality rate is 1.3 times higher than Kansas’ rate but lower than Louisiana’s rate.”

The report states that Missouri commuters spend more than 28 hours in traffic, which ranks 38th nationwide.

“To improve in the rankings, Missouri needs to reduce its urban fatality rate, improve its traffic congestion, and reduce its percentage of structurally deficient bridges,” said Baruch Feigenbaum, lead author of the “Annual Highway Report” and senior managing director of transportation policy at Reason Foundation. 

“Missouri ranks in the top 30 of all states in nine of the other categories. The state is a consistently strong performer, having finished in the top 15 states for the last six years.” 

For the full report, click here.