GREAT FALLS – A new report ranks the Montana state highway system second-best in the nation based on performance and cost-effectiveness.
The ranking by the Reason Foundation in Los Angeles released last week considers 11 indicators, including highway spending, pavement and bridge condition and fatalities.
The state moved up three notches from last year in the overall rankings despite being dead last in the category of fatalities per highway miles traveled.
“I think we have the best roads in the country,” Jim Lynch, director of the Montana Department of Transportation, told the Great Falls Tribune.
He said the agency has developed a software system that determines which roads need work.
“We have a very sophisticated system,” he said. “We can put the money where it’s needed the most.”
Motorcycle riders appreciate the good roads, said Brian Moen, owner of Big Sky Harley-Davidson in Great Falls.
“We have some of the best roads to ride motorcycles on in the country,” he said, noting motorcycle riders also enjoy the scenery.
The report found Montana averaged 2.12 fatalities per 100 million miles traveled, the worst in the nation.
Lynch said the state’s fatality rate is likely because crash victims are often far from any hospital, are traveling at highway speeds, and that 75 percent of Montana highway fatality victims weren’t wearing seat belts.
“Seat belts are a key in Montana,” said Lynch, noting about 80 percent of Montanans wear them most of the time.
He said Montana lawmakers during the 2011 Legislature will likely again consider making failure to wear a seat belt a primary offense.
That means a police officer would be able to pull over a vehicle if someone inside is not wearing a seat belt. Currently, police cannot stop a vehicle simply because a seat belt is not being worn.