“State Rep. Roy Schmidt calls for increased spending on state highways and bridges” (GR Press)

LANSING (The Grand Rapids Press – Jim Harger) – Michigan needs to find another $1.4 billion a year for the next four years to keep its roads and bridges in shape, according to a bi-partisan study group co-chaired by State Rep. Roy Schmidt, D-Grand Rapids.

The 54-page report released Monday did not suggest where the money will come from or how it will be raised. The group concluded the state’s roads and bridges will need more than $2.6 billion a year by 2023.

“I believe this report to be accurate and sellable but the governor and leadership in both chambers will actually have to agree and commit to fund roads and bridges before this report can be taken seriously,” said Schmidt.

“We are at a crossroads, where we can’t afford not to maintain our roads and bridge conditions across the state,” Schmidt said. “This is safety and an economic issue that cannot be ignored.”

The study group concluded that 95 percent of the state’s trunk line freeways are in “good or fair” while 85 percent of the state’s remaining highways and roads are “good or fair.”

“This is the inconvenient truth of the road funding matter,” said State Rep. Rick Olson, the study group’s co-chair. “These calculations would not results in a diamond or gold-plated road system. This is merely the preservation and maintenance cost.”

The report comes one month before Gov. Rick Snyder is scheduled to until his plans for funding the state’s transportation system.

Full Article here.