While railroads might have faded into the past in the United States, highways have not. The United States' Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is the administrative body responsible for expanding the already impressive amount of miles of highway in existence.
To date, there are 157,724 miles of highway running throughout the continental United States. These highways connect each state, town, and county to one another and require a lot of maintenance. Oddly enough, maintenance is not done on the federal level and is instead left to state authorities. That's why some highways are better maintained than others.