National Report Claims Some Oklahoma Roads Are The Worst In The U.S.

A new national report says what most of us already knew, that Oklahoma has some of the worst roads in the country.

The study says Oklahoma drivers pay more than any others for car repairs because of poor road conditions. The study by Quote Wizard by Lending Tree says only Rhode Island has worse roads than Oklahoma.

The report claims to use data from the Federal Highway Administration data to rank states. It says 33% of Oklahoma roads are in poor condition, Oklahoma drivers spend $900 on repairs because of bad roads, and 14% of all bridges are structurally deficient.

Greg Lusby has been a mechanic for 30 years and he says at least 20 percent of the cars he works on have been damaged from the road conditions.

"I've seen it many times. Our roads get good, then we get chug holes, people start having issues, drivers go through them, I see it quite often,” says Greg Lusby.

Lusby has owned Greg's Automotive in Tulsa for eleven years and says he's always fixing cars who hit potholes.

"You know bust the belt inside the tire, causing the tire to not drive like it is supposed to, can cause the tire to become out of balance, wear unusually, also cause alignment issues,” says Lusby.

Along with repairs and replacing tires Lusby tells me those problems can also impact your gas mileage.

"Just help avoid the hole, and help damage from happening to your car just by simply paying attention and missing the hole,” says Lusby. “Over time it causes tire wear, tire wear costs money, gas, problems that you don't need and don't want."

ODOT spokeswoman Kenna Mitchell called the report misleading.

She says the numbers used are outdated and the state has made big improvements in recent years.

Mitchell says only 132 of the state's 68-hundred bridges are considered structurally deficient just two percent compared to the 14-percent listed in the report.

ODOT is also in the middle of an eight-year construction plan to improve highways and bridges across the state.