mojo

Thu, Sep 22, 2011 : 10:58 a.m.

Michigan must revert many roads back to gravel - the cost to maintain a gravel road is near 90% less then to maintain a paved road. We need real cost cutting for when the State is is in real financial trouble. Re-paving can be done later when the funds arrive.

Macabre Sunset

Wed, Sep 21, 2011 : 6:28 p.m.

The money is there for the roads. We just choose to divert a lot of it to subsidize other forms of transportation. And this is just political correctness. As it turns out, most forms of transportation (other than commuter trains, which are quite wasteful, and buses, which are inefficient but considered necessary for people who can't afford a car) use about the same amount of energy per passenger mile. People rail against the passenger car. But they don't cause a lot of wear and tear on the roads. That's mostly done by the heavy trucks. I see plenty of evidence that the gas tax paid by those of us who use passenger cars more than pays for the cost of using those passenger cars. Some argue that small, local roads should be private. Again, I think that's missing where tax revenue comes from. Land would be worth very little without road access. So a portion of our property tax must be held in consideration when determining the true funding of our road system. Like it or not, the roads are our primary method of transportation. Allowing them to fall apart damages our economy and hurts every one of us, whether we think it does or not.

DonBee

Wed, Sep 21, 2011 : 5:15 p.m.

There are better, longer lasting ways to build roads. I attended a session in Germany where they talked about 15 year roads in freeze thaw zones. Right now Michigan is lucky if we get 5 to 7 years. The German process costs roughly double the cost of the process Michigan uses. This may help in the long run to reduce the cost of road repair. To get there we need more revenue. The gas tax was set when new cars averaged 16 miles per gallon. Now the average more, many get 30 mile per gallon or more. Doubling the tax per gallon at the state level is a good first step. As an interim step, the state should accept the Canadian funds for the Bridge, which will releases $2 Billion in Federal road repair money.

Basic Bob

Wed, Sep 21, 2011 : 4:20 p.m.

@Ron Granger, Michigan allows heavier trucks than the federal standard, but they must have less weight per axle. For bridge weight limits, the gross vehicle weight is important: you wouldn't want to put four of those gravel trains on a bridge all at once. You might have a catastrophic failure. But for damage to the pavement, the per axle weight is the important thing. Hard to believe, but those 42-wheel gravel trains are easier on the road than the 18-wheel tankers. Other cold-weather states have better roads because they fix them, and we don't. Even with the proposed level of service, 15% of the roads will be *poor*.

Wilford John Presler IV

Wed, Sep 21, 2011 : 4:14 p.m.

Legalize and tax marihuana. Use that revenue to directly fund the road projects. Do not waiver... Do not let it be diverted to other places like the legalization of the Lottery and Gambling which was to go for public education and now goes to the general fund while the Governor talks of privatizing schooling.

Alex Brown

Wed, Sep 21, 2011 : 2:43 p.m.

if we do not have enough money to properly maintain the roads we currently have then we shold not be building more new roads!

Ron Granger

Wed, Sep 21, 2011 : 2:20 p.m.

Michigan allows the heaviest trucks in the nation. Research shows that it is weight from trucks, not cars, that mainly wears and destroys roads. Are those heavy trucks paying their fair share for the damage they cause? Other cold-weather states manage to have great roads... and they have much lower weight limits. Michigan also has perpetual construction. We don't seem to understand that major routes should *fixed well*. Instead, we do constant construction between major thoroughfares like A2 to Dearborn, or the airport. It seems there is always some segment of the key routes that is getting fixed. So you are always experiencing construction delays.

larry kramer

Wed, Sep 21, 2011 : 2:13 p.m.

the population of michigan is about 10 million. at 1600 million to fix the roads, that works out to $160 per person. not too bad unless you have a bunch of kids. time to install open road tolling on all the "freeways"--I use my I-Pass whenever I go to Madison Wi and its great!

Arno B

Wed, Sep 21, 2011 : 1:58 p.m.

More calls for help! I never see a statement listing the annual gas tax and Motor Vehicle receipts and detailed expenditures. What is siphoned off in non-highway expenditures such as handouts to Amtrak, Greyhound, mass transit fantasies, etc. is never disclosed. For those of you who have never noticed it, look at the sides of the Greyhound busses in Ann Arbor next time you see one. It says "Owned by the State of Michigan". Where did the money come from to buy Greyhound busses? In addition, do the subsidies for the bridges and tunnels come out of these road taxes? Last time I looked, for example, the subsidy for the Mackinac Bridge was about 5 Megabucks per year (toll receipts 10 MB, expenses 15 MB). Not said are the subsidies for the other Michigan crossings (bridges and tunnels). Too bad the users aren't the ones who are paying. I noticed that the Tooth Fairy (Dingell) was shown in your article. Maybe he could be implored to steal money from some other needy enterprise to help fix our roads. And don't forget - here in AA homeowners (not drivers) are forced to pay for street repairs via various ballot issues which get passed. Where do these sums fit into the "additional sums" talked about in Lansing?

81wolverine

Wed, Sep 21, 2011 : 1:46 p.m.

This is no revelation. I'm actually surprised the number isn't a lot higher given how badly Lansing has neglected funding our roads for the last 20 years. Anyone who says this can't be achieved without increased revenue sources (probably gas taxes, vehicle fees, tolls, etc.) is living in a dream world. This kind of money is simply no longer in the budget. Just like in Washington, the politicians in our State government are going to have to stop avoiding the difficult decisions and actually do their jobs. Poor roads are a drain on our already weak economy and if not addressed, will undermine the ability of Michigan's economy to grow in the future.

KJMClark

Wed, Sep 21, 2011 : 1:03 p.m.

"Michigan will be forced to accept low-quality roads" - that about sums it up. People won't accept an increase in the gas tax, and as gas prices rise, they'll use less gas anyway. That's a perpetually declining revenue source. They probably *could* change the weight tax portion of the funding. I'd be happy to pay $5 per year for each of my bikes as long as we jack up the tax for SUVs and trucks - particularly the big commercial trucks. Bikes don't damage the roads at all.

outdoor6709

Wed, Sep 21, 2011 : 12:58 p.m.

Unfortunately the Federal government and their 56 MPG mandate will make road funding worse. So not only will Michigan loose manufacturing jobs to the higher mandate, the push for GPS tracking will increase. The problem with basing policy on flawed premises, is bad policy that is irrevrsable results.