Poor road conditions here to stay because of drained transportation budget

Bumpy and cracked roads in East Lansing might remain unchanged because of cuts to the state’s transportation budget and a lack of stimulus money.

Although East Lansing received in stimulus funding for projects such as the resurfacing of Mount Hope Road this summer, which used about $800,000 in stimulus dollars, the money has been used and the Michigan transportation budget has lost $200 million during the past seven years.

And the Michigan Department of Transportation, or MDOT, will receive about $1.4 billion in 2010 for road and bridge repairs, a decrease from $1.8 billion in 2009.

East Lansing Director of Public Works Todd Sneathen said East Lansing officials are looking into how deep the cuts might be for East Lansing. He said Wednesday the amount is not yet known, but there most likely will be effects seen in the city.

“We’d like to see a number of roads improved, but we (won’t) have the money,” Sneathen said.

Sneathen said the cuts likely will be seen in maintenance costs. Maintenance costs include repaving cracked sealings and minor paving of roads in the spring.

East Lansing is not the only city that needs road repairs. Recently, the Michigan Infrastructure and Transportation Association, or MITA, released a report listing municipalities with the highest number of miles of bad roads. Ranking in the top 10 were Detroit at No. 1, Ann Arbor at No. 3 and Lansing at No. 7. East Lansing ranked No. 115 out of 1,655 municipalities on the
list.

Director of Legislative Affairs for MITA Keith Ledbetter said the group ranked municipalities based on percentage of roads in poor condition and lane miles.

Ledbetter said lane miles are the number of lanes in one mile. For example, on a four-lane highway that goes one mile, there would be four lane miles.

He said cuts to funding are hurting state infrastructure at a rapid speed.

Sophomore Cory Wheeler said he doesn’t drive enough to notice a problem with East Lansing roads compared to other cities. However, electrical engineering junior Kan Xie said there is more than one road that could use improvement.

“(Trowbridge Road) is pretty bad,” Xie said. “(Harrison Road) is a little bit worse, both in condition of the road and traffic.”

Transportation funding comes from two places: vehicle registration fees and the state gas tax, which gives 19 cents per gallon to the state. Ledbetter said because of people driving less and using more fuel efficient vehicles, the state is losing revenue.

He said the only way to raise more money for roads is for legislators to make a change in how the revenues are funded.

“If we want to have our roads in better condition, it’s going to take legislative changes,” Ledbetter said.