Highway construction projects are suffering from a lack of state funding due to lower fuel tax funding in recent months.

It’s been a tumultuous year for the nation’s roadways. Rapid fuel and construction materials price hikes have been followed by steep drops and broad economic woes. Subsequent drops in vehicle miles traveled have taken a toll on state highway revenue. Public officials continue to debate the merits of alternative highway funding mechanisms.

Meanwhile, roads are aging. Durango, Colo.-based independent owner-operator Zak Hargraves says there are many reasons for the poor quality of the nation’s highway network, but chief among them are state DOTs’ failed attempts to get “as many miles out of their budget as possible,” he says. “Most have done a disservice in accepting a lower quality of construction.”

A prime example of this dynamic, he says, is the many old concrete highways on which right-angle expansion cuts, combined with neglectful maintenance, result in widespread “hobby-horsing” from uneven pavement. That’s one of the chief complaints against I-10 in Louisiana, the third-year “winner” in the Worst Highway Segment category of Overdrive’s Highway Report Card survey.

But in its third year at the top of the Worst Roads list, Louisiana is perhaps a success story in the making, as is Pennsylvania. In spite of its past poor rankings, I-80 within Pennsylvania’s borders had likewise placed high in Overdrive’s survey for Most Improved Highway Segment in recent years. This year owner-operators ranked it first for Most Improved and as the nation’s second best highway segment.

Clearly, things are in flux for perennially troubled states. Here is a closer look at them and a few others named the five states with the worst roads.