Closing In on a Reason for Our Decrepit Michigan Roads

OK, we are all aware of the pothole deal here in Michigan, but it appears government is coming to the rescue.
Mike Nystrom, a lobbyist representing the unions that will do the road work that an increased gas tax will fund, says, "We believe, with [Gov. Granholm’s] leadership, getting the other legislature leaders together on this, we believe we can finally get something done that will help us to turn around the situation out on our roads."
Some counties are simply unable to care for their roads – Ingham and Wayne stand out. Some do a pretty good job. Oakland, which seems to do most things well, and Livingston, also manage their roads. Today, MDOT held two public public meetings on some road plans in Lansing that begin March 23. They were held at MDOT’s offices off of Collins Road, one at 1 p.m. which had about 10 attendees, I was told. For the 5 p.m. meeting, I was the only member of the public. The question I asked the MDOT folks is: Why do some states manage to take care of their roads while Michigan fails miserably?
I took Minnesota as an example. Anyone who has had the pleasure of driving there knows that the roads are in fine shape. Yet, each year, the elements relentlessly buffer them. There is freezing, thawing, freezing, thawing, the very same things that our public officials blame our pockmarked roads on.
I was told today by an MDOT chief that Minnesota can afford to pay for care of those roads because it has more tax dollars via a higher gas tax and higher vehicle registration fees.
He was mostly right: Minnesota charges an average of $125 a year to register a vehicle while Michigan’s average is $58. On trucks, Michigan averages $975 while Minnesota hits $865.
The gas tax is where Michigan drops the ball completely. It charges 19 cents a gallon while Minnesota charges 25.1 cents a gallon in state taxes. Yet Minnesota’s overall levy on a gallon of gas is 44 cents, while Michigan’s is among the highest in the nation at 48.9 cents. The big difference is the 6% sales tax we charge on each gallon of gas that goes into the general fund. Not to fix roads, mind you. The general fund, which goes for…well…other things, I’d imagine. Michigan also charges motorists another .875 cents a gallon for a fund called the “refined petroleum fund.”
We feel we are closing in on the reason for our awful roads. And I mean awful.

Is That a Road or a Chinese Checkerboard?

The $787 stimulus plan signed by President Obama Tuesday allocates $64.1 billion for transportation and infrastructure projects, with $27.5 billion aimed at highways and bridges. The question many have is why states and municipalities have allowed roads to deteriorate at such a pace. Most municipalities have road crews and budgets for such. Leaders are supposed to know and plan for problems. The roads we drive on are part of our quality of life. Third World countries are known in part for their poor roads and infrastructure.
The incredibly depressed state of Michigan is by far the biggest offender in allowing its roads to sag. Drivers here are amazingly docile about the horrendous condition, even holding a contest to see who can find the biggest pothole.
The problem allows a lot of finger pointing but no solutions. And it has a history.
In 1991, then-Gov. John Engler promised to funnel $78 million in road funding to towns and counties. He later rescinded the funding amidst his usual political game playing. In October 1995, the Grand Rapids Press in an editorial promised that in the wake of a defeated gas tax measure, roads would suffer. Higher taxes, it reasoned, would surely make things right.
The state raised its gas tax to 19 cents in 1997 with the promise of good roads in the future: According to an AP story in July 1997, Rep. Clark Harder, D-Owosso, said the public won't see the results of the tax hike immediately. "If we can get another $20 million to $40 million into this year (for road repairs), we'll be doing well," said Harder, a chief negotiator on the road plan. "A year from now people will be saying, `Thank goodness the Legislature did something about this."'
The gasoline tax increase is expected to raise about $200 million a year for road repairs.
Other elements of the road repair package include a 30 percent increase in truck registration and weight fees for $42 million; a one-time, $69 million dip into the state's Budget Stabilization Fund; and a plan to pave the way for reforms that might include the state taking control of more primary roads from local governments.
Michigan Department of Transportation spokesman Gary Naeyaert said the $69 million the state's rainy day fund will pump into road repairs this year will still leave a lot of the work for the years ahead.
Wrong. In a recent interview on WJR, listen to MDOT flak Rob Morosi do the dance.
(BTW, Naeyaert is now head of Naeyaert Advocacy Group, a lobbying group in Lansing)
This is how political promises work, my friends. And don’t be surprised to see other elements of the stimulus plan fail as well.