This story appeared in WOOD TV. Read more here.
We need roads and bridges to get around, but hundreds across the state need repairs now and thousands will need to be fixed in the coming years.
The problem is money. A recent report said the state needs nearly $4 billion more annually to maintain and improve Michigan’s roads and bridges.
Erik Easterly with the Kent County Road Commission is one of the engineers who inspects the 166 bridges in the county. He took a News 8 crew to the bridge on 12 Mile Road over the Rogue River in Rockford.
“Here you can see is the worst case scenario on this bridge, which is on an interior beam … multiple strands lost,” explained Easterly.
Those strands are what carry the weight of your car when you’re driving across the bridge. Each beam has anywhere between 30 to 40 strands, sometimes more.
“You’re seeing a steel strand exposed here. You can see it has pretty heavy rusting,” Easterly said.
The bridge is one of four bridges in Kent County that would be classified as being in poor condition. It was weight restricted just a couple of months ago.
“By keeping those higher stress, higher weights off the bridge, it’s another method of extending its life, so we can buy us some time to repair the bridge,” said Easterly.
As a whole, Easterly said the structures are looking fair and he stressed this bridge is safe. However, “if money were no option, we would already be repairing this bridge,” he said.
Not too far away, things are looking better for the bridge on Rogue River Road, where crews are working on a partial repair. And it’s even better on Packer Drive — that bridge is in good condition after a partial repair last year.
Inflation has caused the cost of construction materials to skyrocket, which is what’s really concerning for Easterly. The problem is only going to get worse.
“By 2030, we will have less than 50% of our roads and bridges in good and fair condition, meaning more than 50% will be in poor conditions,” Easterly said.
Lance Binoniemi with Michigan Infrastructure and Transportation and Association said while Governor Whitmer’s $3.5 billion Rebuilding Michigan bond program that was approved in 2020 is helping, more needs to be done.
“We really need to invest in these bridges before we do have to close them down. This problem won’t go away and the longer we wait, the more expensive it becomes,” said Binoniemi.
The numbers aren’t going in the right direction for the more than 11,000 bridges in the state. According to the Transportation Asset Management Council, the number of good bridges has been declining since 2016. The number of fair bridges has been going up. While the number for poor and severe bridges is not getting any worse, it’s not getting any better.
“Honestly, we are worried now, and we are regularly talking with other county agencies, with (Michigan Department of Transportation) and as much as we can, legislators in the state. Some things need to be addressed for infrastructure funding, and it needs to be addressed now,” said Easterly.
Rep. Hillary Scholten, D-Grand Rapids, serves on the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.
“You know, this report is absolutely correct. We have divested from the national highway trust fund for years. This is a problem that didn’t get created overnight,” said Scholten.
Scholten, who is running for reelection, said while historic amounts of money have been poured into roads and bridges through the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, it’s still not enough. She’s hoping Congress will vote for more money for these projects.
“Some of the provisions that are expiring from the IIJA will have an opportunity to be reinstated and will have an additional opportunity to invest in our roads and bridges,” Scholten said.
Easterly hopes so too.
“We need more,” he said.
He is concerned about the dozens of other bridges in his county that will need to be addressed sooner rather than later.
“We are looking at 60-plus bridges that are going to need significant revenue investment in the next 10 years,” he said.
On top of that, Easterly said they are seeing fewer contractors who can build bridges.
News 8 reached out to U.S. Reps. Bill Huizenga. R-Zeeland, and Tim Walburg, R-Tipton, but they weren’t able to make time for an interview.