Country Roads

A smooth ride home is a multi-million dollar infrastructure cost. In America, a 2 lane road costs up to US$5m per mile to build in inner cities. Visiting your parents in another city? 6-lane interstate highways can cost between US$7m to US$11m per mile. For reference, there are over 4million miles of road in America. Resurfacing a road costs around US$300k per lane.

Roads are expensive. Even in some of the most disadvantaged countries like Burkina Faso or Ecuador, roads still cost over US$125k to build per mile. In fact, in 2019, 8% of government spending per capita was spent on road projects in Burkina Faso.

Are they economically worth it? If the alternatives are schools or hospitals or unemployment benefits, is a 5 mile, US$25m road astute spending? Yes, and there’s not much choice. The UK government estimated that every £1 spent on roads brings £4 in benefits to the wider economy; a product of reduced congestion, more connected towns, fewer accidents on top of the construction jobs.

One last thing. You probably don’t want to be taken home via West Virginia’s country roads. 27% of the state’s roads are in need of repair, the worst in America.