175 Million Allocation for Roads May Not Go the Distance
Special legislative appropriation spread thin between 600 entitites
Michigan’s harsh winter weather recently led the state legislature to appropriate 175-million dollars to state and local governments for road repairs. Of that money, 40% is slated for state roads, 40% will go to county road commissions and 20% is set aside for cities and townships. Government-Finance and Operations Specialist with the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments, Bill Anderson, says it costs about a million dollars per mile to resurface or replace roads.
“A good chunk of that money is simply going to be making up for all the extra money that those road agencies have been spending just trying to keep our roads open” -Bill Anderson, SEMCOG
Anderson says the breakdown means about 6.5 million for Wayne County, 7 million for Oakland County and about 4.5 million for Macomb County. He says the allocation is helpful but still hundreds of millions less than needed to address the state’s disintegrating road system. Anderson says it costs about a million a mile to repave or reconstruct roadways.
Here is a breakdown of the money being allocated to Michigan County Road Commissions:
