Just in time for the Mackinac Policy Conference, the Center for Michigan and its Bridge Magazine have a new report out all about Michigan’s abysmal roads. It’s titled Fixing Michigan’s Road Mess: The Unclear Path Ahead.
The report is the result of talking to more than 3,200 residents across the state to talk about the state of our roads.
It found broad agreement, unsurprisingly, that our roads are in terrible shape. But it found no consensus whatsoever on the issue of how to pay for repairing them. And little support for the full amount experts say we need to spend to get them up to par. From the report:
More than three-quarters say the state should spend an additional $1 billion or more each year to fix Michigan roads. Only one in three support spending the full $2 billion or more per year that experts recommend to fully fix Michigan’s roads system and sustain it in good condition.
Bridge Michigan Report
On this episode, we spoke with Bridge Magazine’s public engagement reporter, Allie Schmidt, about the report and some of its findings.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer made “fixing the damn roads” a centerpiece of her successful election campaign last year, and with auto insurance reform edging closer to completion, the issue figures to loom over the Mackinac Policy Conference this week on Mackinac Island.
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