MDOT director warns of funding cliff as department responds to unprecedented northern Michigan ice storm

Director Brad Wafrich, director of the Michigan Department of Transportation, told the State Transportation Commission on April 24 that the department expects a drop in program capacity as the Rebuilding Michigan bond program winds down and federal funding uncertainties loom, and he gave an update on a widespread late‑March ice storm that shut the Mackinac Bridge and damaged infrastructure in parts of northern Lower Michigan.

The commission heard that MDOT is still executing large, bond‑funded projects in 2025 but that annual program averages will be lower once bond spending declines and the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act requires reauthorization in 2027. Wafrich also described a recent statewide construction‑cost surge that reduced the department’s purchasing power.

Wafrich said MDOT’s five‑year program shows a large near‑term workload driven by rebuilding Michigan bond projects and that the department is delivering “almost $1,700,000,000” in repair and rebuild work in 2025 on the trunk‑line system. He noted the five‑year annual average is closer to $950,000,000, reflecting the temporary boost from bond proceeds. “From 2020 to 2022, 23, I…