Utah has some of nation's safest roads

SALT LAKE CITY — Utah has the fifth-best roads in the nation, according to a new ranking by Reader's Digest.

Only Kansas, Wisconsin, Montana and New Mexico have better roads, according to the rankings.

North Dakota, Wyoming, Nebraska, Virginia and Oregon round out the top 10.

Combine that with Forbes Magazine recently ranking Utah as the No. 1 commuter friendly state in the country, and transportation in the Beehive State is looking pretty good these days.

"This ranking is a reflection of the effort our state elected officials have made to invest state tax dollars in Utah's transportation system over the past decade," said Nile Easton, the Utah Department of Transportation's director of communications.

"We at UDOT have worked hard on delivering quality projects with the money that has been entrusted to us," he said. "Projects like the I-15 reconstruction in Salt Lake City, the Legacy Parkway, the Southern Corridor in St. George and the upcoming reconstruction of I-15 in Utah County all help keep our communities connected, encourage economic growth and keep commuters working, rather than stuck in traffic."

The "Best Roads" list was determined by the latest data from the Federal Highway Administration, while the "Deadliest Roads" ratings were calculated using a simple ranking of fatalities per 100 million miles driven.

Complete statistics, as well as the methodology used in the report and other information, is available at www.readersdigest.com/bestandworstroads.

Utah also received one other honor — I-80 was ranked as the country's fourth-safest and most sensible road.

No. 1 was Interstate 35 through Kansas; while the Montana interstates were second; and Interstate 75 in northern Florida was third.

Interstate 5 in California was ranked as the nation's worst single road, while the Ventura Freeway and Sunset Boulevard followed, giving the Golden State the worst three roads.

Utah ranked 49th among the 50 states in alcohol-related fatalities on roads, and the Beehive State tied for 23rd in speeding-related fatalities.

The 10 states with the "Deadliest Roads" were Montana, Louisiana, South Carolina, West Virginia, Arkansas, Mississippi, Kentucky, Wyoming, Alabama and Nevada.

The complete rankings can be found on the Reader's Digest Web site at www.readersdigest.com.

e-mail: lynn@desnews.com