LANSING, Mich. — A new report says county roads and bridges in Michigan need billions of dollars more to stop their deterioration.
“It surprised us,” said Denise Donahue. “It was more than we expected.”
Donahue serves as the CEO for the County Road Association of Michigan, who, last Wednesday, released a report that found the state must allocate an additional $2.4 billion annually to keep pace with its maintenance goals for its local infrastructure.
The study found a $4.1 billion total need. In fiscal year 2021, Michigan invested $1.8 billion in state revenue to county roads and bridges.
“We’re impacted by several things that are happening in the background that I think most of us don't realize,” said Donahue.
According to Donahue, the funding gap grew 28 percent from CRA’s last report two years ago.
The association blames inflationary pressures and shortfalls in Michigan’s gas tax fund for the increased need.
“The average mileage of the fleet in 1994 might have been around 23 miles per gallon,” said Donahue. “The fleet average these days is heading up 30, 32, higher than that, miles per gallon, so that means all the fuel tax that you should expect to show up is not showing up.”
Donahue notes county road commissions no longer see major increases in state dollars from a law passed in 2015 that upped the gas tax. It’s indexed to inflation and capped at 5 percent too.
At the same time, she says more federal aid would not help them either. According to CRA’s study, the local infrastructure that requires the most investment does not qualify for the funding.
“Roads and bridges don't fix themselves,” said Donahue. “They are not like living beings that make a scab and scar tissue and they put themselves back together. They continue to deteriorate at basically an exponential rate and we get into more larger and more costly fixes as the years go by.”
County road agencies care for 75 percent of road miles and 52 percent of bridges in Michigan.
CRA believes in the short term, state lawmakers should raise the gas tax and launch studies that explore solutions for the future, like a fee that charges people for how many miles they drive.
In a statement to FOX 17, a spokesperson for Governor Whitmer said she remains “committed” to the issue.
"Governor Whitmer is committed to fixing the damn roads and bridges across the state," said Bobby Leddy, Whitmer’s communications director. “Since taking office, we have rebuilt or repaired more than 20,000 lane miles and 1,400 bridges, supporting over 118,000 jobs, with the Rebuilding Our Bridges program delivering hundreds of millions of dollars to fix local bridges alone. Governor Whitmer’s recent budget recommendation builds on her previous work investing over $15 billion in Michigan's roads and bridges. We will keep moving dirt and getting things done to save drivers time and money."
Earlier this year, Whitmer proposed $247.6 million to improve state and local roads, highways, and bridges and $150 million to support local bridge and culvert improvement projects as part of her 2025 budget recommendation.
Donahue encourages the governor and legislature to act quickly.
“Take action this year,” said Donahue.
To read CRA’s report in full, click here.
