Wisconsin ranks among the states with the worst roads, report says

From JSOnline:

Maia Pandey

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

As Milwaukee officials buckle down on traffic safety measures, a new report has ranked Wisconsin among the states with the worst roads.

Wisconsin has the 14th-worst roads in the country, worse than any of its neighboring states, according to the analysis by ConsumerAffairs, a consumer news platform. To rank the states, researchers used data from the Federal Highway Administration and the Bureau of Transportation Statistics on the conditions of urban and rural roads and the rates of car accident fatalities in each state.

Wisconsin's ranking was, however, improved from its spot as 8th-worst in the same analysis conducted by ConsumerAffairs last year.

In recent years, Milwaukee officials have adopted a goal of reducing the city's annual number of traffic deaths to zero by 2037. That includes implementing hundreds of traffic calming projects citywide, including an additional 60 projects recently announced for 2026.

So far, the efforts seem to be showing returns: Traffic fatalities in Milwaukee hit a six-year low in 2025, city officials announced in March. The city logged 57 traffic fatalities in 2025, compared 70 deaths in 2024 and 77 deaths in the peak year of 2022.

Here's what else the report found about Wisconsin's roads:

About 57% of Wisconsin's urban roads and 15% of its rural roads are considered in "poor" condition by the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, per the report. In contrast, about 36% of urban roads nationwide and 10% of rural roads are in poor condition.

Wisconsin has about 4,400 miles of urban roads and about 12,750 miles of rural roads.

Neighboring states Illinois, Michigan and Iowa ranked as 19th worst, 25th worst and 34th worst (or 16th best), respectively. Minnesota, meanwhile, had the second-best roads in the country.

Though the lowest-ranked states were scattered across the country and varied in size, certain climate and weather patterns were among the unifying characteristics in the states with the worst roads. In cold areas, for example, freeze-thaw cycles can increase potholes, per the report. States with heavy commercial truck traffic, such as New Mexico and Oklahoma, are also likely to see increased wear and tear on roadways.

Here are the top five states with the worst roads, per ConsumerAffairs:

1. New Mexico
2. Mississippi
3. Rhode Island
4. Hawaii
5. Oklahoma

And here are the top five states with the best roads:

1. Indiana
2. Minnesota
3. Vermont
4. Georgia
5. Kansas

How to track Milwaukee's traffic calming projects

You can keep tabs on the progress of Milwaukee's traffic calming projects with this dashboard maintained by the Department of Public Works. The dashboard includes information for nearly 400 projects the department is currently pursuing.

For completed projects, the city is collecting data on whether speeding and traffic crashes have reduced in the area since the construction was completed. Overall, traffic calming measures since 2022 have reduced speeding by 32% and crashes by 15% citywide, per the dashboard. You can follow the progress here.

From: https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/local/2026/04/13/wisconsin-roads-are-among-the-worst-in-the-country-study-says/89516896007/