Making the worst of it

The sorry state of the nation’s highways has received its very own “worst of” list, courtesy of Reader’s Digest magazine. The publication looked at data from the Federal Highway Administration – such as highway and bridge conditions, as well as congestion and the rate of fatalities – to come up with the rankings. Montana was the state with the deadliest roads, followed in the top 10 by Louisiana, South Carolina, West Virginia, Arkansas, Mississippi, Kentucky, Wyoming, Alabama and Nevada. The list also included a ranking of  “dreaded, dreadful and deadly” stretches of road that truck drivers and other veteran travelers complain about, including Interstate 5 in California, Pennsylvania roads “in general” and I-285 in Atlanta. And to be “fair and balanced,” the magazine noted some of the states with good roads. Kansas, Wisconsin, Montana, New Mexico, Utah, North Dakota, Wyoming, Nebraska, Virginia and Oregon round out the top 10 states that have the best roads in the country, according to the list. The magazine’s best bets for “safe, scenic and sensible” roads include I-70 through Kansas, I-40 across New Mexico and California and I-84 in Oregon. -- Mark S. Kuhar