Washington's Roads Rank Last: Governor's Plan for Repairs

0:00It's March 24. This is Vancouver News today, AI-powered stories from your city. I'm Corey with the story. Washington's highways and bridges rank 48th out of 50 states for overall condition and cost effectiveness according to the latest annual report from the Reason Foundation. The states slipped one spot from last year and now trails only California in Alaska while leading spenders like Virginia top the list. Despite high costs on maintenance, new construction and bridges, pavement quality lags, especially on urban arterials and rural interstates. Officials points at 342 bridges over 80 years old, with 212 in poor shape, driving recent pushes for upkeep, funding. Governor Bob Ferguson highlighted securing $1,500,000,000 over six years for repairs, all without new taxes as lawmakers. Wrapped up session, meanwhile, he just signed a bill creating crash prevention zones at deadly hotspots, boosting enforcement, cameras and safety fixes to cut serious, collisions

1:04and save lives.