Atlas Twp.-Tom Wimble arrived at his Green Road home just after dark.
‘I was home for about a half-hour before I realized my truck tire was flat,? said Wimble, a construction worker. ‘So I removed the tire and the next day took it to Belle Tire for repair. I figured they could just patch the tire and get me on my way. That was not the case. They recovered a four inch steel bar which left a gaping 1/2 inch hole in the tire. It was beyond repair.?
Wimble recognized the type of steel recovered from his truck tire.
‘It’s steel re-rod, the type used to reinforce concrete,? he said.
Wimble was correct. The steel was actually part of the Henderson Road bridge over the Kearsley Creek located north of Kipp Road.
‘I cross that bridge on my way to work in the Detroit area and can see the bars sticking up,? he said. ‘You kind of have to zig-zag to miss the bars. I stopped by the bridge and the re-bars were sticking up. Several were exposed to traffic.?
Wimble contacted the township regarding the dilapidated bridge deck and the Genesee County Road Commission.
‘Both responded to me and within a day or workers cut off the rods so they were not sticking up,? he said. ‘Road commission officials indicated a layer of asphalt would be placed over the bridge as soon as the weather was warmer. However, road commission officials said a layer of gravel on the deck was delayed due to the increase in weight from the material. I guess structurally perhaps the bridge would not be able to hold the weight.?
The failing township bridge deck is just one example of the fatigued infrastructure Proposal 1 will target, emphasized John Daly, Genesee County Road Commission manager-director.
‘The Henderson Road bridge project is the type of repair project that will take place following the sales tax hike,? he said. ‘If voters pass the proposal, the first one or two years will be spent on general road maintenance, augmentation of our work force, establishing external contracts, deferred maintenance, road grading, ditching, resurfacing projects and chip and seal.?
If approved by voters at the polls on May 5, the current 6 percent state sales tax would jump to 7 percent. Once fully implemented, the proposal will provide $1.3 billion in additional funds to roads, $260 million in low-income tax relief, $300 million in additional funding for schools and a $94 million increase for local governments, according to state officials. The measures will also eliminate the existing 19-cents-per-gallon tax on gasoline and the 15-cents-per-gallon tax on diesel fuel. It would convert both to a 14.9 percent tax on the average price of gasoline and the average price of diesel fuel.
The Michigan Department of Transportation released a list of projected funding levels for county and local road agencies. Cities and villages, which currently receive about $357 million a year in road funding, would pull in an estimated $592 million per year by 2018. The 83 county road agencies, which includes the Genesee County Road Commission, would see their annual collective funding jump from about $624 million to more than $1 billion. Funding for roads includes 39.1 percent for MDOT, 39.1 percent for county roads and 21.8 percent for city and villages.
Since the township roads are maintained by the Genesee County Road Commission they will share part of escalating funds which include $21,235,816 in 2014; $26,022,766 in 2016; $30,809,716 in 2017 and $35,596,666 in 2018.
‘There are 17 townships that would share in the additional funding and it would be a significant step forward from where we are now,? added Daly. ‘For townships like Atlas we would try to get as much road work for the money as we can each year. Keep in mind it has taken 20 years to get to the point we are at now. We got in this mess back in 1997 when lawmakers did not fund transportation with the dollars necessary. Only about 60 percent of what was needed. Now, for example, in many cases we are patching potholes four or five times’in reality the structure of road has failed’which means a total reconstruction.?
Jeff Cranson, MDOT spokesperson said every level will see a significant increase in funds if the sales tax hike is passed. He added that during the first few years after the proposed sales tax increase the additional funds will be used to pay off existing road project debt. Then by the third year the full amount will be allocated.
‘I support the gradual phase in of the funding over three years,? continued Daly. ‘The last recession forced out many of the construction companies that would compete for road and bridge work. The pool of resources in Michigan is much smaller than it needs to be. If the road money comes into local coffers all at once the demand for contractors will rise faster than the resources available, thus driving up the price.?
Daly has not seen an alternative plan for funding roads.
‘Ohio spends twice as much as Michigan on the roads,? he said. ‘Communities like Atlas Township have been excellent partners in working on roads. They look ahead and have been proactive in road work.?
Until there’s more funding Wimble and other area residents will continue to zig-zag around road hazards.
‘I’m all for the hike in road taxes, heck I’ll even pay to have it paved, but not for something else,? added Wimble. ‘Everyone that drives uses the roads in our state and community, but there seems to be too many fingers in the pot when it comes to road funding. Honestly, the real issue is how did the roads get this bad? Let’s not make the same mistake again.?