Wisconsin health and environmental advocates are hailing a federal appeals court decision that upheld the Biden administration’s tighter limits on soot pollution after two dozen Republican-led states challenged the rule. 

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WASHINGTON — Visitors from across the United States traveled to the National Mall Thursday for the opening day of the Great American State Fair, a days-long event that is part of President Donald Trump’s Freedom 250 celebration of the nation’s semiquincentennial.

States and territories showed off cultural and agricultural exports at exhibits stretching nearly a mile. Attendees snapped photos on the small Grand Ole Opry stage in the Tennessee booth, kids tried putt-putt at Indiana’s miniature golf course and cowboys rode horses at Montana’s rodeo. 

A 110-foot Ferris wheel slowly turned at the center of the freshly manicured lawn, framing the Washington Monument and the U.S. Capitol in the distance on either side. Nearby stood a model of Trump’s controversial “triumphal arch.”

People collected swag from each state — drawstring bags from Ohio, stickers from South Dakota, snacks from Tennessee — and could receive a stamp on state fair passports.

The fair is part of the larger Freedom 250 programming and kicked off Wednesday night with a rally on the mall featuring a speech from the president that closely resembled his remarks along the 2024 presidential campaign trail. The festivities will continue over Independence Day, when Trump will deliver a second speech followed by what is promised to be an impressive fireworks display. 

The president will visit North and South Dakota as part of his Freedom 250 tour for the opening of the Teddy Roosevelt presidential library and Independence Day eve fireworks above Mount Rushmore.

Freedom 250 then extends into August with a high school athletic competition in Washington, D.C., dubbed the “Patriot Games” and a Freedom 250 INDYCAR race around the National Mall.

The administration’s celebration is separate from the America250 commission, created by Congress a decade ago, and which has its own nationwide programming this year.

From Lake Erie to the Ohio River

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine and first lady Fran DeWine greeted guests in Ohio’s pavilion. The couple posed for photos in front of a map of the Buckeye State.

“We wanted to see on the wall all the different things, from Lake Erie to the Ohio River, all the different fun things you can do in Ohio,” the Republican governor said, adding the state has local celebrations and initiatives planned for the 250th anniversary, including “Movies in Ohio” for community showings of films that feature the state.

Ohio’s first lady showcased a children’s literacy exhibit on the opposite wall and touted the roughly 427,000 participants in the state’s partnership with the Dolly Parton Imagination Library, a program that mails free children’s books monthly to households with kids under age 5. 

“We’ve mailed out 27 million books. We know that a child’s brain is 80% developed by age 3, so we want to get them those books early,” she said.

Reflecting on America’s milestone birthday, the governor said, “We’re always a work in progress, Ohio’s a work in progress, this country is a work in progress.”

“I think you know the thing we need to keep in mind, all of us, is there’s some essential core principles that we all believe in. … We may disagree about different policies, but the core principles are the same,” he said.

Cartwheels on the lawn

People from various states walked from exhibit to exhibit, while stopped in the nation’s capital during road trip vacations.

Tanya Geders, 43, of St. Louis, Missouri, did a cartwheel in the mall lawn, trying to persuade her son to join in. The family stopped at the state fair on their way to Virginia Beach.

“We’re like, well, if we go to the ocean, we can go to D.C. and what a better time to be here than the 250th anniversary,” Geders said.

Robyn Toman, 71, of Severn, Maryland, escorted her 12-year-old grandson Miles to meet DeWine and grab a photo with the governor.

Toman said she remembers the country’s bicentennial.

“I was a kid about his age, and I came in 1976. I said, ‘We’re gonna go, let’s go down to D.C. for a couple days and see this,’” she said. 

“We’ve enjoyed it. We went over to the archives yesterday, and saw the Constitution, and the Declaration of Independence, and the Bill of Rights. And, oh, that was so nice, that was fantastic.”

Not all states are there. A spokesperson for Washington state’s lieutenant governor’s office told States Newsroom the administration declined to join because of “the costs to the state associated with participating.”

According to news reports, Connecticut, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont did not contribute exhibits, though many are still represented by flags outside the individual booths.

The state officials did not immediately respond to States Newsroom for confirmation.

All states that reportedly did not participate, with the exception of Vermont, are Democratic-led.

Across the country, potholes are more than a seasonal nuisance. They are a visible symptom of aging roads and bridges that many state and local governments say they cannot afford to fully maintain.

From local streets in small towns to major urban corridors, transportation agencies are grappling with deferred maintenance, rising construction costs and limited revenue streams. Even as federal infrastructure dollars increased in recent years, some transportation officials and infrastructure experts say the need continues to outpace available funding.

Gas taxes, which historically have largely gone to road repairs, have not kept up with inflation or shifts in vehicle efficiency, including the growing use of fuel-efficient and electric vehicles. The federal gas tax, at 18.4 cents per gallon, has remained unchanged since 1993. President Donald Trump has proposed temporarily suspending the federal gas tax to provide relief from surging fuel prices because of the Iran war.

“What states end up doing, partly because resources are limited, is they’re sort of triaging the system,” said Rocky Moretti, the director of policy and research at TRIP, a nonprofit research group focused on transportation issues.

For drivers, the cost of deteriorating roads often becomes clear only after damage occurs. At a time when many Americans are already feeling squeezed by fluctuating gas prices, tire blowouts, bent rims and suspension repairs can turn potholes into costly and unexpected expenses.

At the same time, some state and local governments are struggling to keep up with repairs while exploring new technologies — including artificial intelligence-powered road monitoring systems, sensors and camera-equipped vehicles — to identify road damage and respond more efficiently.

Federal transportation data shows that U.S. road conditions have changed little over the past three decades. Nationwide, the share of roadways rated in acceptable condition peaked at about 91% in 1999, but has since declined and averaged around 80% in recent years — leaving roughly 1 in 5 roadways in poor condition.

In 2024, the latest year with available data, the share of road miles rated in poor condition ranged from 34% to 89% in the five states or jurisdictions with the worst roads: the District of Columbia, Rhode Island, Hawaii, California and New Mexico. By comparison, the share of roads rated in acceptable condition ranged from 94% to 97% in the five best-performing states: Kansas, Tennessee, Indiana, Wyoming and Vermont.

With spring bringing warmer weather and heavier traffic, many transportation agencies have ramped up seasonal repair efforts by launching “pothole blitzes” aimed at rapidly filling road damage ahead of the busy summer driving season.

Just last month, West Virginia Republican Gov. Patrick Morrisey pledged to have potholes across the state filled by the end of May, saying road crews had already patched more than 18,000 miles of potholes since January.

New York City also hit a milestone in April, filling 100,000 potholes in the first 100 days under Mayor Zohran Mamdani. New Yorkers called in at least 19,406 reports flagging potholes in fiscal 2026 through April, up roughly 88% from at least 10,297 reports during the same period in fiscal 2025, according to the city’s 311 data.

In Baltimore, crews filled at least 32,000 potholes from late February through mid-March, and the city aims to fill another 25,000 potholes and resurface 10 lane miles by mid-July, according to Veronica McBeth, the director of the Baltimore City Department of Transportation. The agency repaired more than 134,000 potholes in 2025, she said.

“(Potholes are) one of those things that is a real pain,” McBeth said. “City services are out here trying to get the work done, and we are actively trying to grow deeper partnerships with the state to get larger pots of money to do bigger and more robust infrastructure investments.”

A growing maintenance gap

Potholes form when water seeps into cracks in pavement, freezes and expands, then melts and leaves gaps beneath the road surface. As vehicles repeatedly drive over those weakened areas the pavement breaks apart, creating potholes. The cycle is especially common in regions with frequent freeze-thaw weather swings.

“Years of that combination of traffic and climate action will cause you to have to do maintenance. Things will break down,” said Bill Buttlar, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Missouri.

Poor drainage is also a major factor, Buttlar said, as moisture and stormwater can significantly weaken pavement over time. The aging transportation systems in many parts of the country can make the problem even worse, as older roads are often more vulnerable to cracking and deterioration.

Responsibility for repairing potholes depends on who maintains the roadway. Local streets are often maintained by city or county public works departments, while state departments of transportation typically oversee highways and major roads.

Many agencies rely heavily on resident complaints submitted through 311 systems or online reporting tools to identify new potholes, alongside routine inspections and maintenance crews.

State and local governments increasingly rely on a patchwork of federal funding and local revenue sources to cover maintenance costs. Research from The Pew Charitable Trusts found that state roadways face a combined maintenance and repair shortfall of $86.3 billion over the next decade.

“(Transportation agencies) don’t have the budget to do proper maintenance practices and stay out ahead of things, just with the increase of costs and the lack of funding that we’ve been putting into the roads as a nation over the last 30 years,” said Richard Willis of the National Asphalt Pavement Association. Willis is the industry group’s vice president for engineering, research and technology.

The lack of funding often creates a cycle of reactive maintenance, according to experts. Delaying repairs can worsen deterioration as water continues penetrating cracks and weakening pavement foundations, leading to more costly reconstruction later.

“The last thing you want to do is try to save a buck here and there, kind of kick the can down the road, and pushing the maintenance back,” Buttlar said. “It turns out, it’s less expensive to do light maintenance more often.”

Innovative tools

Some states and cities are turning to technology to stretch maintenance dollars further.

In Worcester, Massachusetts, City Councilor Satya Mitra said he wants the city to become the “city with no potholes.” Since joining the council earlier this year, Mitra said he has heard repeated concerns from residents about road safety and infrastructure conditions and is pushing for the city’s transportation officials to explore whether artificial intelligence could help detect potholes earlier.

“It is not only the damage to our vehicle that happens, but also it is a potential health risk,” Mitra told Stateline. To underscore how seriously he takes the issue, Mitra even made a T-shirt that reads, “Proud to live in Worcester, a city with no potholes,” which he said he would like to distribute to residents if the city reaches that goal.

Worcester is far from alone. Transportation agencies across the country are increasingly experimenting with AI-powered cameras, sensors and predictive software to identify road damage before it worsens. Supporters say the technology can help agencies prioritize repairs, respond faster and potentially reduce long-term maintenance costs. But for many cities already struggling with limited budgets, the systems can also come with significant upfront costs.

Last week, Chicago announced a partnership with tech company Samsara to test artificial intelligence tools designed to improve road operations. The system will use sensors and video technology to detect and log potholes.

Similar technology is also being tested in more than a handful Massachusetts communities through a pilot program using pothole detection software.

In Hawaii, the state Department of Transportation has expanded its “Eyes on the Road” initiative, which relies on volunteer drivers equipped with free dash cameras to collect roadway footage statewide.

Last year, San Jose, California, released results from an AI-powered road safety pilot project that found the technology identified potholes with 97% accuracy and roadway debris with 88% accuracy. The pilot, launched in 2023, uses cameras mounted on city vehicles to detect potholes, illegal dumping and other infrastructure problems.

In recent years, some municipalities have upgraded their 311 systems with mobile apps, photo uploads and GPS-based reporting tools aimed at making them easier and faster to use.

But some researchers warn that complaint-based systems can leave behind communities that are less likely to engage with local government reporting tools. A 2024 study published in the Policy Studies Journal found that in Houston, lower-income neighborhoods and communities with larger Black and Hispanic populations submitted fewer 311 pothole complaints despite often having worse road conditions.

Rather than waiting for roads to deteriorate into major reconstruction projects, focusing on preventive measures such as crack sealing, resurfacing and rapid pothole patching could help more. Experts say addressing smaller problems early can extend the lifespan of roads, reduce long-term repair costs and help prevent more dangerous driving conditions.

“If we invest in maintaining what we have, that’s the most effective way to preclude the formation of potholes,” said George Conner, the deputy director for operations at the Alabama Department of Transportation. Conner also serves as the chair of the committee on maintenance with the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials.

“A prioritized overall preservation is probably the best starting point. But there is no single fix for potholes, especially if you want the repair to last,” Conner said.

Stateline reporter Amanda Watford can be reached at awatford@stateline.org.