State subcommittee hears that Michigan local roads and bridges face growing shortfalls, new federal mandates

LANSING — At a meeting of the Appropriation Subcommittee on the State and Local Transportation, presenters from the County Road Association (CRA) and the Michigan Municipal League (MML) told lawmakers that Michigan’s locally owned roads and bridges face rising repair needs, constrained federal grant slots and an unfunded federal mandate requiring expanded bridge data and load analysis by 2027.

The presentation to the committee, led by Ed Noyola of the County Road Association and Denise Donahue, CRA CEO, outlined the scope of local responsibility and the gap between available funding and need. "We have 5,868 bridges that equates to 52% of the all the state bridges," Noyola said. Donahue added: "Bridges are assumed to last for 50 years." John LaMacchia of the Michigan Municipal League said municipal road departments’ responsibilities go beyond pavement: "from a city and village level, we do more than just roads."

Why it matters: Counties and local governments own most of the state’s road miles and a majority of its bridges, and the presenters said the current funding flows and program rules leave many local roads and structures underfunded. Those gaps affect everyday travel, local economies and the ability of local governments to maintain services without raising local taxes or special assessments.

Key findings presented to the subcommittee

- Network size and ownership: The presenters said counties are responsible for roughly 90,000 miles of roads, municipalities about 22,000 miles and MDOT about 10,000 miles (the presenters expressed these as jurisdictional…