Rhode Island

Spend Top Dollar, Rank Dead Last: RIPEC Finds Rhode Island’s Arterial Roads Worst After RhodeWorks

Virtue Forge briefing · Based on RIPEC report coverage in What’s Up Newp and GoLocalProv (Sep 30, 2026)

What happened

On Wednesday, Sep 30, 2026, the Rhode Island Public Expenditure Council released a report finding that Rhode Island spent more per resident on roads and bridges than almost any state over the past five years—yet its state-maintained arterial roads now rank last in the country. What’s Up Newp and GoLocalProv covered the release the same day; RIPEC titles the work around high spending, heavy debt, and uneven results.

Between fiscal 2020 and 2024, capital spending averaged $461 per resident (15th nationally, more than twice the U.S. average) and $162,891 per lane-mile (third highest). About half of that capital went to bridges—first in the nation and more than seven times the ~7% national average—while roadway capital was only 31%, lower than any other state. The maintenance gap is the widest nationally: $8.40 in capital spending for every $1 of routine work (resurfacing, crack sealing, drainage). The ten-year plan still projects roughly $7.56-to-$1.

RIPEC traces the imbalance to RhodeWorks (launched 2016), which steered capital toward bridge reconstruction after bridges ranked worst and faced federal penalties. Bridge decks rated poor fell from 24% (2016) to 15% (2024)—still 49th nationally. Interstate pavement ranks 27th; non-interstate state routes rank 50th. Debt service was 15% of spending (first nationally per capita); debt, administration, and soft costs together consume 44% of state transportation revenues.

Forward pressure: RIDOT’s five-year capital request shows a cumulative state matching shortfall of $278.9 million (from $37.1M in FY2028 to $93.6M by 2031) needed to draw ~$350–$360M a year in federal aid. Truck tolls meant to fund RhodeWorks remain offline after a 2022 federal ruling; the First Circuit partially reversed in Dec 2024 (large trucks allowed, daily caps voided). Restart costs: RIDOT paid the toll operator $5.2 million in 2024 to settle claims and by March estimated $19 million to replace gantry gear. The enacted budget assumes tolls resume January 2027 ($20M that year, $40M annually after). Gas tax context (GoLocal/RIPEC): effective July 1, 2025 the total motor-fuel tax rose to 41.0¢/gal—10th highest nationally and highest in New England.

Fact check: Rankings and dollar figures above are RIPEC’s as reported Sep 30—not VF inventions. “Worst arterial roads” refers to non-interstate state routes / arterials (50th), not every local street or every Interstate mile (Interstates rank 27th). Bridge decks improved under RhodeWorks but remain near the bottom nationally (49th). Do not claim the Washington Bridge failure alone caused the arterial ranking; GoLocal notes that failure as one pressure among years of maintenance neglect. Do not treat RIPEC’s user-fee recommendations (more tolling / higher vehicle fees) as free-market reform—they are policy options inside the same revenue stack.

Virtue Forge commentary

Competence is not how much you spend. Rhode Island taxed drivers hard, borrowed heavily under RhodeWorks, stacked debt and soft costs to nearly half of state transportation revenue, and still delivered the nation’s worst arterial pavement. That is central-planning failure with a construction ribbon on it: chase the federally punished bridge metric, starve routine maintenance, then discover ratepayers and motorists own the potholes.

Bias check: Bridges needed work; federal penalties were real. Celebrating bridge-deck progress while arterial roads hit dead last is still a competence indictment. RIPEC’s call to “expand user fees” is not a blank check for more tolls and EV surcharges on top of a 41¢ gas tax—humble government would first cut debt-service and soft-cost bloat, publish pavement metrics as ruthlessly as bridge scores, and stop pretending another fee layer equals stewardship.

Free enterprise and civic virtue demand outcomes taxpayers can drive on: resurface what exists, limit new borrowing, match federal dollars without freezing maintenance, and measure success by roads that work—not by how loudly Smith Hill announces the next capital program. Spending top-dollar to rank dead last is the opposite of trustworthy government.

Original reporting

Read the underlying coverage:

What’s Up Newp — RIPEC: Rhode Island’s state roads rank worst in the nation after a decade focused on bridges (Ryan Belmore, Sep 30, 2026)

GoLocalProv — RIPEC report on RI’s roads and bridges finds lack of maintenance as root of failures and driving costs (Sep 30, 2026)

Rhode Island Public Expenditure Council — Rhode Island’s Road and Bridge Program: High Spending, Heavy Debt, Uneven Results (report landing / ripec.org)