How road conditions in North Carolina have improved since 2000

The United States boasts an impressive interstate network of 4.2 million miles of roads—but underlying that reputation is a backlog of $786 billion in needed repairs, according to the American Society of Civil Engineers. On average, the society estimates, American motorists spend a collective $130 billion on extra vehicle repairs and fuel costs as a result of driving on poor-quality roads and bridges.

In 2000, 82.6% of U.S. roads were considered acceptable to drive on, according to federal standards, which look at how rough or smooth a road surface is based on how much vibration a car's suspension has to absorb while driving on it. By 2020, a smaller share—81%—of U.S. roads were rated acceptable.

TruckInfo.net used Bureau of Transportation Statistics data to analyze how road conditions in North Carolina have changed over the past two decades, as part of a larger analysis of U.S. road conditions. The analysis considers the change in the share of roads considered to be in acceptable condition.

The road conditions in North Carolina have improved from 86.46% acceptable in 2000 to 89.51% acceptable in 2020. The state mostly uses its 38.5-cent-per-gallon gas tax to fund road construction, though the state legislature recently also sent $200 million in sales tax revenue to the transportation department for road repair and construction.

Road condition is determined by the International Roughness Index, which measures deviations from pavement surfaces significant enough to affect driving. Roads with IRI values below 170 are considered to be in acceptable condition, while anything above 170 is considered poor condition. Data represents the percentage point change from 2000 to 2020.