Total Road Miles by State, Michigan Makes the Top 10 List

When it comes to total road miles by the state, it would simply stand to reason that the larger the state, the more road miles it would have. And, to an extent, this is true. But obviously, geography coupled with overall necessity also plays a huge part in the planning of roadways throughout the 50 states in the U.S.

According to Cubit's Blog list of 'Road Miles by State,' Michigan made the Top 10 List by a narrow margin.

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Here's the Breakdown of the Top 10 Road Miles By State

1) Texas: 683,533 total road miles.

2) California: 396,540 total road miles.

3) Illinois: 306,658 total road miles.

4) Minnesota: 290,618 total road miles.

5) Kansas: 286,606 total road miles.

6) Missouri: 277,504 total road miles.

7) Florida: 275,376 total road miles.

8) Georgia: 272,662 total road miles.

9) Ohio: 262,492 total road miles.

10) Michigan: 256,579 total road miles.

Fun and Interesting Facts About Michigan Roadways

When you have 256,579 miles of roadways in your state, many off-the-wall stats and questions arise. Some you may have thought or asked yourself about, while others may make you wonder how anyone thought of them.

Luckily the Michigan Department of Transportation posted a short list of stats and answers to your most burning questions.

For instance, did you know:

•  The first Michigan road map was published in 1826 and only had three roads on it.
• Eight Michigan highways started off as Native American trails.
• Michigan has a total of 120,256 miles of paved roadway. This breaks down into 9,669 route miles of state trunkline, 89,444 route miles of country roads, and 21,198 route miles of city/village streets.
• Over 95 billion miles are driven each year on Michigan roadways.

And, last but not least (and crazy to wrap your head around)

• There is enough 'Michigan pavement' to build a one-lane road to the moon.

So, the next time you are driving somewhere in Michigan, think about the years of work it took to go from just three roads in 1826 to the 256,579 miles of roadways Michigan has to offer today.

And be thankful! Just imagine the traffic (and road rage) we would all be dealing with had our ancestors decided that having three roads was good enough.