Michigan Radio: Get Ready For More Potholes This Spring
Michigan Radio, October 20, 2014
Last spring’s potholes may be a distant memory.
But road officials warn Michigan residents to get ready for more.
“If you’re seeing patch on patch on your road, you’re going to be seeing a lot of potholes this spring,” says Brad Lamberg, President of the County Road Association of Michigan.
Lamberg says it wasn’t just the harsh winter, but a failure to invest in road repair that has led to the current situation.
“It’s from a decade and a half of inaction by various legislatures. The one that we have now has inherited this problem - and it’s getting to be pretty much too big to solve.”
Lamberg estimates that it would take $2 to 2.5 billion a year to get state roads back to a decent condition.
But he says members of the state legislature are only considering an appropriation of $1.2 billion - at most.
He says that $1.2 billion would only cover MDOT’s needs for state highways, but it’s not enough for county, city and township roads.
