Study: Wisconsin has 8th-best roads in U.S.

(WLUK) -- Infrastructure. It's been a hot topic in politics since President Joe Biden unveiled a $2.3 trillion plan to update the country's infrastructure in March.

A major part of that plan -- $621 billion -- would go toward transportation infrastructure and resilience.

With that in mind, Zutobi, an online driver's education service, looked at the condition of roads across the U.S. By the company's estimation, Wisconsin has the eighth-best roads in the country.

Zutobi used ratings from the International Roughness Index and combined it with the rate of highway deaths in 2020 to come up with its score. Wisconsin scored 8.10, just behind seventh-place Virginia at 8.11.

"While there are slightly fewer fatalities in Wisconsin (a rate of 0.89), the road quality wasn’t quite good enough to make 7th place," the company wrote in its analysis.

Wisconsin drivers don't have to go too far to find the best roads in the nation, according to the study. Minnesota ranked No. 1 with a score of 9.10. South Carolina came in 50th with a score of 4.72.

Wisconsin was also highly ranked in its improvement since 2015. According to the study, 83.4% of the state's road miles were listed as acceptable in 2020, compared to 72.6% in 2015. The 14.8% difference was good for fifth place in the nation.

Will roads be a priority in the next two-year state budget? Wisconsin's two-year budget begins on July 1. Democratic Gov. Tony Evers unveiled his proposal in February, and the Republican-controlled Joint Finance Committee is making its changes. That version will be forwarded to the Legislature for a final vote, then on to Evers for his signature.