Budget constraints delay Washtenaw County road projects

“Without additional revenue sources coming into the state, motorists are going to see a decline in the system conditions, due to the lack of projects that we’ll be able to do,” MDOT spokeswoman Kari Arend said. “We’re just trying to get the word out and let the public know that this is coming up.”

Delayed Washtenaw County bridge projects include:

• Repairing the overlay in two sections of US-23 (at Willis Road and Bemis Road).
• Replacing the deck on M-52 over Raisin River. 

Delayed road projects include:

• Resurfacing portions of I-94 and M-14.
• Reconstructing parts of M-52 and US-12.

Several road and construction projects are on hold due to lack of state funding.

File photo

“Many of (the projects) have already been delayed several years, so the fact that they’re not going to be done now makes an already bad problem worse,” said Terri Blackmore, the executive director of the Washtenaw Area Transportation Study. “The roads will continue to get worse, and (people) will continue to have more funding issues as they have to pay to fix their cars.”

Washtenaw County Road Commission Managing Director Steve Puuri said most of the state’s transportation revenue comes from gas taxes and vehicle registration fees. But with more people conserving gas and not buying new cars, he said that leaves less money available for the state’s transportation fund.

Furthermore, MDOT says declining revenues make it unlikely that Michigan can match the funding necessary to receive federal transportation money after 2010.

In 2011, MDOT is predicting a loss of $475 million in federal dollars if the state can't come up with its $84 million contribution.

“We lose that amount of money, so our money is not going to come back to Michigan, our money is going to go to other states,” Arend said.

Currently, MDOT lists 90 percent of state roads in “good” condition. Ten-year projections, however, predict less than 30 percent of roads will be in “good” condition if revenues continue to drop by 2020.

Blackmore said the problem is tied to the legislation.

“Funding has not been raised since 1997, and costs have gone up considerably since then,” she said. “Nobody likes a tax, but nobody likes the condition that the roads are in. It’s really a user fee.”

MDOT is accepting public comment on its plan until Friday, Dec. 11, but says not much else can be done without more revenue. Comments should be e-mailed to MDOT-Five-Year-Program@michigan.gov. The draft 2010-2014 Five-Year Transportation Program is available on the MDOT Web site at: www.michigan.gov/mdot5yearplan.