Gov. Snyder OKs $175M For Road Work

LANSING, MI —An extra $175 million will go into Michigan’s crumbling roads and transportation projects this year thanks to a supplemental spending bill signed by Gov. Rick Snyder on Tuesday. The announcement comes amid a significant pothole season and should impact summer construction work.

“You can’t go anywhere in Michigan without people wanting to talk about roads, and there’s a good reason,” Snyder said in a signing ceremony at the Michigan Capitol, where he was surrounded by orange barrels and “road work ahead” signs, the Detroit News reported. “We need to improve them. We got in a big hole, literally, in terms of a big pothole over the last 20 years.”

Snyder initially proposed the funding bump for 2019, but lawmakers accelerated the plan after a public outcry about a widespread expansion of potholes, propelled by the winter weather. The mid-year spending plan will send an extra $38.2 million to cities and villages, $68.4 million to county road commissions and $68.4 million to the state. It builds on the 2015 road funding law, which will begin to phase in additional general fund dollars next year, the Detroit News reported. The local dollars would be distributed among all 83 Michigan counties and 533 cities and villages, based on an existing formula that considers population, pavement miles and other factors.

Detroit will receive an extra $5.8 million under the new bill, with Oakland County receiving $7 million, Macomb County getting $4.48 million and Wayne County garnering $6.48 million. The overall Michigan transportation budget will reach about $4.5 billion in 2018, up from $3.6 billion in 2011, according to the governor. Snyder said he would support an increase in the federal gas tax -- something most members of Congress have opposed -- and noted some communities have asked voters to implement local fees or assessments to boost investments.

>>> Read the full story at The Detroit News

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