18% Of South Dakota’s Bridges Structurally Deficient. Yikes!

The kind of good news about South Dakota roads is overall we are 14th best in the US.  The bad news, we fell 11 positions since the last report, and we haven't got to major our bridge problem yet.

This is according to the 24th Annual Highway Report recently released by the Reason Foundation.  Their reports run a few years behind, the latest data available is from 2016.

What's the reason for the 11 point drop?  The report states:

'South Dakota declined 11 positions, from 3rd to 14th in the overall rankings, as rural Interstate pavement condition and rural arterial pavement condition declined significantly. The percentage of structurally deficient bridges also increased significantly.'

Speaking of those bridges, the report found that 18.58% of all bridges in the state are structurally deficient.  That's almost one in five!  If you don't have Gephyrophobia, the fear of crossing bridges, yet, you might the next time you cross a South Dakota bridge.  Only West Virginia, Iowa and Rhode Island bridges are worse.

On the plus side, the report found that only 1.33% of South Dakota interstates are in overall poor condition, good for 8th best in the country.

Overall rankings from around the region: Nebraska #15, Iowa #31 and Minnesota #22.

Who has the best roads overall in the US?  North Dakota.