Report: Roads in Hawai‘i Among Worst in Nation

Wood Valley Road. Courtesy HPD

Hawai‘i has a poor reputation for traffic conditions, but a new report claims it also has some of the worst roads in the nation.

Hawai‘i ranked fourth among the Top 10 States in Dire Need of Road Repairs in an analysis conducted by the insurance quote comparison website Insurify.

According to the data, 28% of rural roads in Hawai‘i are in poor condition and 8% of bridges are structurally unsound. Only 3.67% of Hawai‘i’s state expenditures are devoted to repairs, allocating only a fraction of what is needed to address these failing roadways and crossings.

Hawai‘i’s urban streets are in equal need of attention. Honolulu residents issue thousands of pothole claims each year—according to data collected by TRIP, a national transportation research group—and drivers pay roughly $745 a year in car maintenance costs due to poor road conditions.

The top 10 states with roads in need of repair as reported by Insurify include:

10. Oklahoma
9. Arkansas
8. Pennsylvania
7. Vermont
6. New Mexico
5. Mississippi
4. Hawai‘i
3. California
2. Connecticut
1. Rhode Island

According to Insurify, the U.S. recently received a D+ rating from the American Society of Civil Engineers’ 2017 Infrastructure Report Card. The U.S. ranks ninth in the world for infrastructure according to the World Economic Forum.

While hard on cars and their passengers, eroding roads also impact the economy by slowing traffic along vital supply lines serving both consumers and producers. Another TRIP study reports that 15% of rural roads in the U.S. urgently need repair. In addition to safety concerns, the report concluded that poorly maintained roads impact rural Americans in particular who depend on them for manufacturing, transportation of farm crops to market, and the production of food, energy and fiber.