Michigan’s new roads plan: More money for big counties (that vote Democratic)

[audiophile]

No one is suggesting all counties should be equal, but this seems like a disproportionate allocation.

https://www.bridgemi.com/michigan-gover ... democratic

[Bobbert]

No one is suggesting all counties should be equal, but this seems like a disproportionate allocation.

https://www.bridgemi.com/michigan-gover ... democratic

It's all about winning elections. All of the rest of it is noise. That's why I avoid the political threads on the Buzzboard.

[Rate This]

No one is suggesting all counties should be equal, but this seems like a disproportionate allocation.

https://www.bridgemi.com/michigan-gover ... democratic

You have to spend much more money where the population is… the roads in the most populated counties get way more abuse than do the roads up north or in the middle of nowhere. Trust me… they are fixing all kinds of things up there too.

[audiophile]

No one is suggesting all counties should be equal, but this seems like a disproportionate allocation.

https://www.bridgemi.com/michigan-gover ... democratic

You have to spend much more money where the population is… the roads in the most populated counties get way more abuse than do the roads up north or in the middle of nowhere. Trust me… they are fixing all kinds of things up there too.

Maybe you missed this:

A $6.8 billion transportation budget approved by Senate Democrats on Wednesday includes $150 million in extra one-time money for local roads in counties with populations of at least 350,000 residents: Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, Kent, Genesee and Washtenaw.

I guess other counties get chicken feed (other than several critical infrastructure projects).

[Taco]

With that being the case, northern MI roads have been largely neglected for too long and its getting worse.

No one is suggesting all counties should be equal, but this seems like a disproportionate allocation.

https://www.bridgemi.com/michigan-gover ... democratic

You have to spend much more money where the population is… the roads in the most populated counties get way more abuse than do the roads up north or in the middle of nowhere. Trust me… they are fixing all kinds of things up there too.

[Taco]

I really wish Michigan would remove the 6% sales tax on gasoline. We already pay state and federal tax on it. IMO, everything you pay in tax at the pump should go towards roads. I am not opposed to tolling either.

[Rate This]

No one is suggesting all counties should be equal, but this seems like a disproportionate allocation.

https://www.bridgemi.com/michigan-gover ... democratic

You have to spend much more money where the population is… the roads in the most populated counties get way more abuse than do the roads up north or in the middle of nowhere. Trust me… they are fixing all kinds of things up there too.

Maybe you missed this:

A $6.8 billion transportation budget approved by Senate Democrats on Wednesday includes $150 million in extra one-time money for local roads in counties with populations of at least 350,000 residents: Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, Kent, Genesee and Washtenaw.

I guess other counties get chicken feed (other than several critical infrastructure projects).

Again.. that’s where the people are. It makes sense to focus on the heaviest traffic areas… repaving a road the locals let their children have tea parties in the middle of because there’s a car once an hour just isn’t a priority.

[Ben Zonia]

Some things they out to do, but for some it's probably too late.

Extend I-275 as far as they possibly can between Novi and Holly.

Extend the M-53 Expressway as much as possible from Romeo to Imlay City.

Put a connector expressway between I-75 and US 23 in Northern Oakland and or Southern Genesee County.

If you kook further outstate, nearly every larger city has bypasses like these, often redundantly surrounding them.

[Round Six]

I gotta agree with Rate This. Although I'm not familiar with the roads in Kent or Genesee County, the boulevards in Metro Detroit are truly dismal compared to anywhere I've been outside of SE Lower Michigan.

Interesting quote from the article:

" ... The plan also includes $50 million to build a railroad underpass or overpass near Van Horn and M-85 in Trenton, where two people died in 2019 when their car hit a moving train ... ".

Now I know the project they are talking about. But I don't remember anyone getting killed there. I will be asking around.

EDIT; Two people did get hit by a train (actually, they drove into the side of a moving train) in Trenton in 2019. The engineer had to be flagged down six miles away. He never knew anyone hit the train.
However, this happened about 5 miles east of the proposed underpass project on a different track.

[Matt]

Blame the people that can't quit Trump, like ap and bz: you handed the Dems total control in November.

[Willie108]

Actually, there was a plan years ago to extend I-475 south to join up with US-23, but that plan went by the boards. They really screwed up when they built some of these freeways. Case in point...the I-69, I-75 interchange. What a mess. The stretch from Corunna Rd. (M-21, Exit 118) down to the 75-23 split is one of the most dangerous stretches of freeway in the state. There's accidents there every day. If you've ever driven thru there, you know what I mean.

[Round Six]

Actually, there was a plan years ago to extend I-475 south to join up with US-23, but that plan went by the boards. They really screwed up when they built some of these freeways. Case in point...the I-69, I-75 interchange. What a mess. The stretch from Corunna Rd. (M-21, Exit 118) down to the 75-23 split is one of the most dangerous stretches of freeway in the state. There's accidents there every day. If you've ever driven thru there, you know what I mean.

What's your thoughts about not having a 69/75 interchange?

Instead, re-design the 69/Bristol interchange and make Bristol a limited access (with the exception of the airport) connector to a re-designed Bristol/75 interchange. With the exception of the airport, there's pretty much nothing on Bristol between 69 and 75 anyway. Isn't there empty space around where 69 and Bristol meet? And empty space around where Bristol and 75 meet? Seems to me there's enough empty space around both of those intersections to make big cloverleafs.

Whatta think?

[TC Talks]

I live in a county that don't qualify for this extra credit, and I still think it's a great idea. I really dislike going to large cities in Michigan if it means driving on the roads.

It really doesn't matter the politics, but if lived in Grand Rapids, I would remember who took care of the roads.

[Rate This]

Some things they out to do, but for some it's probably too late.

Extend I-275 as far as they possibly can between Novi and Holly.

Extend the M-53 Expressway as much as possible from Romeo to Imlay City.

Put a connector expressway between I-75 and US 23 in Northern Oakland and or Southern Genesee County.

If you kook further outstate, nearly every larger city has bypasses like these, often redundantly surrounding them.

275 was supposed to run between 75 in Monroe County and 75 in Gennesee County as a bypass around Detroit. M-5 in Novi is on the right of way. The locals north of there raised such a fuss in the 70’s that the plan was abandoned. Same with making 23 a freeway north of Standish.

[Colonel Flagg]

Blame the people that can't quit Trump, like ap and bz: you handed the Dems total control in November.

Translation:

Sununu-Cheney, 2024.

Orange man bad.