7 Washtenaw County road and bridge projects on list of state cuts

Seven Washtenaw County road and bridge projects lost funding today as the the state Transportation Commission approved the Michigan Department of Transportation’s 2010-2014 plan.

The five-year plan includes the elimination of 243 road and bridge projects statewide. State officials said the commission was forced to cut the projects due to continued declines in state gas tax revenues and the state’s inability to match federal dollars beginning in 2011.

Several road and bridge projects in Washtenaw County are being eliminated.

File photo

Road projects in Washtenaw County that received the axe include:

The I-94 Business Loop (Jackson) from West Junction I-94 to Main Street.
M-14 east of Earhart Road to the county line.
M-52 from Austin to Dutch.
US-12 (East Michigan Avenue) from B01 to Maple Road.

Bridge projects in Washtenaw County being cut include:

M-52 over the Raisin River.
Two projects that involve work on Willow Road and Bemis Road over US-23.

The 243 canceled projects include: 128 bridge replacements and rehabilitations, 105 road rehabilitations and reconstructions, eight new roads and two capacity improvements. Click here to see the full list.

Steve Puuri, managing director of the Washtenaw County Road Commission, said none of the projects being put on hold in Washtenaw County are that significant. But taking a guess, he said it probably means the loss of a few million dollars to the county.

Puuri said the bigger problem is the state, due to a lack of transporation funding, is deferring low-cost preventative maintenance projects that may end up requiring costlier fixes in the future.

“We must invest in transportation to jump-start Michigan's economic recovery,” state Rep. Pam Byrnes, chairwoman of the House Transportation Committee, said in a written statement today. "We must take action now to ensure a stable source of revenue to invest in modernizing Michigan’s transportation system.”

According to the Michigan Infrastructure and Transportation Association, without the ability to match federal aid, Michigan’s return on the federal gas tax will drop from 92 percent to just 50 percent in 2011.

“Michigan’s dire funding situation has left MDOT with no other choice than to make drastic cuts and provide only the basic level of services to our residents,” Mike Nystrom, the association's vice president of government and public relations, said in a press release.

MITA points out that the commission’s approval of the five-year plan comes just two days after Byrnes and Rep. Richard Ball, R-Laingsburg, introduced revenue bills to help resolve Michigan’s transportation funding crisis. The bipartisan package of bills - HB 5768-70 - is aimed at restructuring Michigan’s motor fuel taxes and follows the recommendations of the Transportation Funding Task Force.

According to MITA, between 2011-2014, the package of bills would increase transportation revenues by $1.4 billion and also allow the state to capture more than $2.46 billion in matching federal aid.

Ryan J. Stanton covers government for AnnArbor.com. Reach him at ryanstanton@annarbor.com or 734-623-2529.