A good friend of mine once made the cheeky suggestion that if all the world’s roads were downhill, we could all save a lot of gas… we were 12-years old at the time, and it seemed funny (in the old gas-guzzling days, mind you).
But it’s 2025, and I would suggest that most of Hawai`i’s roads are going downhill… in terms of quality (and lack thereof). Too many topics are over-analyzed nowadays to fill the online black hole, but sometimes interesting web stuff is factual. Sometimes. Recently, a report came out from the Journal of Consumer Research, which used metrics provided by the American Society of Civil Engineers and- drumroll, please- Hawai`i has the 3rd worst roads of the 50 United States.
This won’t shock most drivers locally. The shortest distance between two points in Hawai`i is usually under construction (thanks to Jim Leahey for that bon mot), and the only consumers unflustered by this ranking might be local auto repair shops- with dings, dents, lost rims, busted tires, misalignments, and frayed nerves the general expectation for frustrated drivers.
If you added up all of the potholes/cracks/unevenness around O`ahu’s streets, the sum total would equate to the size of Kaua`i’s Waimea Canyon. OK, I made that one up, but who knew that driving would require such ambient focus and physical acumen to avoid potholes, “flat” (haha) metal protrusions, gravel, and assorted landmine-ish road “repairs”.
Hawai`i is 3rd nationally in both the percentage of urban roads in poor condition (44.3%) and rural roads in general disrepair (28.5%). Despite regular efforts by local officials, the article proffers that our heavy rainfall, salt air, and volcanic activity (and maybe the apparent use of Play-Doh for some repair jobs…) means boulevard breakdowns are endless and ubiquitous.
Stronger paving material is used in non-commercial/residential areas (like upper Pali Highway), but it’s laborious, time-consuming and costly to have to dig up this better composite when necessary, so it’s used only where there are few drainage concerns and/or old pipes underground. #1 for road ruination is New Mexico, followed by Mississippi, Hawai`i, Louisiana, and Rhode Island. The only commonality among these five states is that they all possess an “i” in their names, assuredly a coincidence, unless some wingnut living in his mom’s basement runs with it online as a conspiracy theory.
Unfortunately, the pitted underbelly below awaits your patience and road skills again tomorrow.
Think about it…