“America, Can You Hear Me Now?” — A Harsh Look at U.S. Infrastructure
Let’s start with the grade: A D+ for roads and a C for bridges, according to the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) 2025 infrastructure report card. That means nearly 40% of major roads are in poor or mediocre condition—and this is happening in the world's richest economy.
🚧 Road Conditions: Just Plain Embarrassing
Globally, the U.S. 🇺🇸 ranks around 11th to 13th in road quality. That might sound okay until you realize we’re trailing behind much smaller nations like Singapore 🇸🇬, Switzerland 🇨🇭, Japan 🇯🇵, the Netherlands 🇳🇱, and Taiwan 🇹🇼. Even many developing nations are catching up, while the U.S. continues patching potholes like it's the Great Depression.
The U.S. road network suffers from a roughness index that would make a camel complain. Only about 40% of non-interstate roads are considered to be in “good” condition—compared to 90%+ in countries like the Netherlands 🇳🇱.
🏗 Bridges: Still Standing (Barely)
There’s some good news: structurally deficient bridges have dropped from 12% to around 6.8% over the past few years. But that still leaves over 43,000 bridges classified as structurally deficient. These are bridges that carry traffic millions of times every day.
Progress? Sure. But considering the wealth, technology, and size of the U.S. 🇺🇸, this should’ve been handled a decade ago. Europe would’ve already turned them into bike lanes and cafes.
💀 Road Safety: Just a Statistic
Let’s talk fatalities. The U.S. 🇺🇸 experiences about 13 road deaths per 100,000 people, compared to countries like Norway 🇳🇴, the U.K. 🇬🇧, and Japan 🇯🇵, where it's under 3 per 100,000. That’s not just a fluke—that’s decades of bad design, poor planning, and lack of political will.
Other countries use roundabouts, median barriers, narrower lanes, and 2+1 road configurations to slow traffic and reduce collisions. Meanwhile, the U.S. clings to 12-foot-wide lanes and 1950s-level sprawl.
🌍 Meanwhile in the Netherlands…
Let’s compare. The Dutch 🇳🇱 don't just have cute windmills and perfect waffles—they've also got some of the best roads on the planet. The Netherlands ranks among the top 3 globally in road infrastructure quality.
How? They use:
Porous asphalt for better drainage
Dedicated bike lanes
Roundabouts over stoplights
Smart urban planning
All of which make driving smoother, safer, and frankly more civilized.
💸 The Money’s There… Sort Of
Thanks to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law passed under the Biden administration, over $550 billion has been committed to improving roads, bridges, and transit. But experts estimate the U.S. 🇺🇸 still faces a $3.7 trillion shortfall over the next 10 years just to maintain the current system—let alone modernize it.
Billions go in. Potholes remain. Progress is slow because America prefers building new roads over fixing old ones. It’s like buying a new phone while your old one is still cracked and overheating.
🔍 Breakdown: How the U.S. Stacks Up
Here’s how America 🇺🇸 performs across key infrastructure categories:
Roads
Grade: D+
Status: ~40% are in poor or mediocre condition
Global Rank: Around 11th–13th
Bridges
Grade: C
Status: Over 43,000 are still structurally deficient
Global Rank: Improving, but still lagging
Road Safety
Statistic: ~13 deaths per 100,000 population
Comparison: 4–5× worse than top-performing countries like Norway 🇳🇴, the U.K. 🇬🇧, and Japan 🇯🇵
Funding
Investment: $550B+ recently committed
Shortfall: ~$3.7 trillion still needed over the next decade
🎤 Final Mocking Mic Drop
America 🇺🇸 is enormous, wealthy, and full of engineering talent—yet can’t keep its roads drivable or its bridges intact. The U.S. loves ribbon-cutting ceremonies for flashy new highways but refuses to pay for long-term maintenance. Even worse, design choices that save lives—like roundabouts or speed-calming lanes—are ignored in favor of outdated car-first ideals.
Meanwhile, countries like Norway 🇳🇴, Japan 🇯🇵, and the Netherlands 🇳🇱 are engineering circles around us with smart design, consistent funding, and political vision.
So yes, America can claim the world’s largest road system. But when it comes to quality and safety, it’s not a superpower. It’s a punchline.