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Im suprised our roads are not the worst, since they truly are terrible. I would love to blame Granholm, as she is in my opinion a rotten govenor. However the road issue goes back for decades in this state. Clearly the roads did not get the way they are without a great deal of long term neglect. Granholm, Engler and Blanchard administrations all could be blamed for sure. If the roads had been maintained the way they should have been all along, we would not have the road conditions we have now. The excuse of Michigans climate is always brought up, but when looking at other states who have the same climate we do like Wisconsin and Minnesota, the roads in those states put ours to shame. Even the roads in heavily populated northeast states are better than ours, and those roads take much more traffic and abuse than ours do. Some people think that our truck laws allowing big heavy gravel trains are to blame as well. Roads and infrastructure are one area where we cant cut back, they just need to be fixed. I dont think toll roads are a good option either, its a credit to our state that we do not have them. Heres an idea, lets cut welfare and pay to fix the roads that working people depend on every day. Another good idea, lets cut the pay of lansing politicians and fix the roads they have neglected for decades.
Wisconsin and Minnesota have half the population Michigan does. Michigan also receives more snow annually. This means Michigan has to spend more to maintain the roads. Unless of course you would rather just drive on snow covered roads.
Also, the study was based on truck drivers comments.
Being that Detroit and Toronto bring people into Michigan...and both are fairly large cities...chances are they take those highways.
Additionally Pennsylvania would stated to be the worse...and New York and California were tied.
When I think about the states with the most population in the country...NY & CA come to mind quickly - and I personally, having lived out in CA, thought the roads were pretty good out there!
Anyways, since it is based on truckers opinions, and not any real solid data....it is very subjective in nature. It seems the most highly populated states are going to win this 'award'...and probably MI gets up there as when people think of hard winters in the country...I think most people readily think of MI and maybe Buffalo NY...wear and tear, etc.
I think Michigan's roads are noticeably worse. I don't live there but I go up to visit every summer and it seems that things are looking shabbier, lots more potholes. Michigan doesn't have the heat that buckles roads in some other places nor the heavy interstate traffic passing through.
What I don't understand - people like to compare the "stimulus" with Great Depression government spending but at least in the Great Depression the government spent much money on projects that put people to work. Since so many people are living off unemployment, wouldn't it be more useful to put them to work, filling in potholes, giving the unemployed brought in to do some of the needed work?
Wisconsin and Minnesota have half the population Michigan does. Michigan also receives more snow annually. This means Michigan has to spend more to maintain the roads. Unless of course you would rather just drive on snow covered roads.
Wisconsin has about 5.6 million, Michigan is around 9.8 million so yea they have a bit more than 4 million less people. However Michigans population is highly concentrated in one large metro area, and the majority of the rest of the state has a low population density. ( about the same as Wi) This means that the roads in those less populated areas should be the same quality as Wisconsins roads, as they should get about the same use. Since you have spent some time in northern Michigan, you obviously know that the roads are terrible there too, as they are statewide. You have a point about funding, metro Detroit no longer provides as big of a tax base as it used too so that creates huge issues when it comes to the transportation budget. I think we really need to make sure the funding is there to fix the roads, people from other states hammer us about our roads, people who may want to invest in the state take infrastructure quality into consideration when making decisions about where to locate thier business. Theres lots of blame for the way they are to go around, and both political parties share in this blame but its important that it gets fixed. Oh and your comment about snow covered roads, yea I am actually ok with that, at least on back roads. In the UP they leave many roads snow covered, they become hard packed after a few days and can be driven on reasonably easy. They just put some sand on them for traction and you are ok as long as you watch your speed. Two benefits to this are 1. saves the county money, and 2. saves your car from rusting due to oversalting. Cars rust much faster in areas that use lots of salt vs those who use more sand.
Michigan doesn't have the heat that buckles roads in some other places nor the heavy interstate traffic passing through.
Uhhhhh....... do you fly into Michigan?????? Have you never noticed the number of semis lumbering up and down I-75, particularly from the Michigan-Ohio boarder to the boarder crossing into Windsor? That crossing is the busiest in the USA. Every truck coming out of Ontario/Quebec and the other Eastern provinces that is going west or south comes through the Detroit/Winsdor crossing. That's 2/3 of the country being serviced by this single crossing. The trucks used to line up for miles down I-75 waiting to cross. Why do you think they built a whole new interchange to service the truck inspections and get them through quicker and off the expressway?
The worst of the roads are largely confined to these areas where truck traffic is predominate. And truthfully, I drive the roads in northern Michgan a fair bit and they are not bad compared to the problems we face in SE Michigan. People I know who live in northern Michgan feel their roads are more then adequate compared with what we deal with here. I can't speak for Grand Rapids area or Lansing as I am not familar with their roads.
Because residents would just be tolling themselves. Michigan's a peninsula. Aside from some Canada-Chicago truck traffic on 94, there's not a lot of pass-through traffic. States like Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey use toll roads because the residents don't want to pay to maintain highways for millions of people who just pass through.
That is a good point on the out-of-state traffic. However it is still fair and reasonable to have a toll on some roads for those that actually use those roads. Again I personally would rather pay a toll or tax than have bad roads.
Uhhhhh....... do you fly into Michigan?????? Have you never noticed the number of semis lumbering up and down I-75, particularly from the Michigan-Ohio boarder to the boarder crossing into Windsor? That crossing is the busiest in the USA. Every truck coming out of Ontario/Quebec and the other Eastern provinces that is going west or south comes through the Detroit/Winsdor crossing. That's 2/3 of the country being serviced by this single crossing. The trucks used to line up for miles down I-75 waiting to cross. Why do you think they built a whole new interchange to service the truck inspections and get them through quicker and off the expressway?
The worst of the roads are largely confined to these areas where truck traffic is predominate. And truthfully, I drive the roads in northern Michgan a fair bit and they are not bad compared to the problems we face in SE Michigan. People I know who live in northern Michgan feel their roads are more then adequate compared with what we deal with here. I can't speak for Grand Rapids area or Lansing as I am not familar with their roads.
I was thinking the same thing. Most highway roads are absolutely fine. It is only southeast MI where they really get worn down by the heavy traffic. Plus the ones in Detroit, you have to slow down to 55, and not much 'room to maneuver' it seems sometimes - probably even moreso for a heavy semi-truck.
Recently I took the toll roads from Toledo OH to Pittsburgh PA. The roads were HORRIBLE...potholes everywhere. The speed limit was only 65 as well (compared to 70 in Michigan).
I was actually glad to get back on the MI FREEways afterwards. In short, having tolls on the roads doesn't always make them better. I have no idea what PA or OH does with the money that they make from the tolls, but they certainly weren't putting it back into their toll roads.
Are you kidding me? I would take PA's roads over Michigan's anyday! PA's roads are bad too. When I moved to Cincinnati/Dayton from Philly, I was in heaven. The roads in Ohio are great. Some of the best in the nation. Ohio is constantly rated in the top 10 states for best roads, and being a northern state, that is pretty good.
Also, Northern Ohio, especially the northeast part of the state gets just as much snow or more than Michigan. That lake effect really hits the suburbs of Shaker Heights, Sagamore Hills, Independence, and Chagrin Falls really bad. Downtown Cleveland doesn't get it bad, nor does the western suburbs of Avon Lake or Bay Village. But NE Ohio east of Cleveland gets plenty of snow.
I always hear from people in Michigan how smooth the Ohio turnpike is compared to every single freeway in Michigan. Makes you want to fall asleep while driving. You can literally blindfold someone and they know when you enter Michigan from Ohio. Its not even just Ohio's toll freeway (Turnpike) that is good. The majority of our interstates are smooth and newer concrete. The state is heavily investing in upgraded our freeway network. Just look at the major projects here in the Dayton metro. I can't tell you how many Michigan cars I see in accidents on the big I-75 project near downtown. And with investments in the light rail systems in Cleveland, and the new streetcar designs for Cincinnati, Ohio is really prime for new transit obtions. Not even to forget the 3C Corridor linking Cincinnat/Dayton to Columbus and Cleveland.
I was up in Detroit and Lansing a few weeks ago on business. It felt like someone had dropped mini bombs all over the roads they were that bad. I hated my time in Detroit, there wasn't anything going on downtown, and all the storefronts were empty, but Lansing being the capital city you think the roads would be better (btw, you guys have an awesome and beautiful capital building). They really weren't. The only other state that I can think of that has worse roads than Michigan is Louisiana. Pennsylvania's turnpike is a mess though.
Are you kidding me? I would take PA's roads over Michigan's anyday! PA's roads are bad too. When I moved to Cincinnati/Dayton from Philly, I was in heaven. The roads in Ohio are great. Some of the best in the nation. Ohio is constantly rated in the top 10 states for best roads, and being a northern state, that is pretty good.
Also, Northern Ohio, especially the northeast part of the state gets just as much snow or more than Michigan. That lake effect really hits the suburbs of Shaker Heights, Sagamore Hills, Independence, and Chagrin Falls really bad. Downtown Cleveland doesn't get it bad, nor does the western suburbs of Avon Lake or Bay Village. But NE Ohio east of Cleveland gets plenty of snow.
I always hear from people in Michigan how smooth the Ohio turnpike is compared to every single freeway in Michigan. Makes you want to fall asleep while driving. You can literally blindfold someone and they know when you enter Michigan from Ohio. Its not even just Ohio's toll freeway (Turnpike) that is good. The majority of our interstates are smooth and newer concrete. The state is heavily investing in upgraded our freeway network. Just look at the major projects here in the Dayton metro. I can't tell you how many Michigan cars I see in accidents on the big I-75 project near downtown. And with investments in the light rail systems in Cleveland, and the new streetcar designs for Cincinnati, Ohio is really prime for new transit obtions. Not even to forget the 3C Corridor linking Cincinnat/Dayton to Columbus and Cleveland.
I was up in Detroit and Lansing a few weeks ago on business. It felt like someone had dropped mini bombs all over the roads they were that bad. I hated my time in Detroit, there wasn't anything going on downtown, and all the storefronts were empty, but Lansing being the capital city you think the roads would be better (btw, you guys have an awesome and beautiful capital building). They really weren't. The only other state that I can think of that has worse roads than Michigan is Louisiana. Pennsylvania's turnpike is a mess though.
This is fairly subjective. My experience was the Ohio and Pennsylvania turnpike were horrible. To be fair, I also recently drove a non-toll highway from MI through Cincinnati, and that seemed alright. I wouldn't say 'dream-like', but seemed just normal.
I have heard about bad roads around Lansing, they aren't great. I was mostly around Saginaw/Flint/Port Huron/Detroit...and all the roads around there were just fine - not Detroit itself, but the highways going north from there.
Anyways...the thing is...construction time is around the corner. Pretty much every summer, most of these things are paved over and worked on...so whatever opinion someone might have, can quickly change.
This is fairly subjective. My experience was the Ohio and Pennsylvania turnpike were horrible. To be fair, I also recently drove a non-toll highway from MI through Cincinnati, and that seemed alright. I wouldn't say 'dream-like', but seemed just normal.
I have heard about bad roads around Lansing, they aren't great. I was mostly around Saginaw/Flint/Port Huron/Detroit...and all the roads around there were just fine - not Detroit itself, but the highways going north from there.
Anyways...the thing is...construction time is around the corner. Pretty much every summer, most of these things are paved over and worked on...so whatever opinion someone might have, can quickly change.
Well honestly, the Ohio Turnpike is a dream compared to anything in Michigan lol. Also, I talked to residents up there, especially in the Lansing/Okemos region why the roads were so bad. They talked about all the construction (paving/patching of the roads), and mentioned that they never do it right, and a few weeks later the roads are back to the way they were. In fact, about two years ago, I blew a tire on a road in Livonia. That has never happened to me before in my years living in the Philly/Allentown area and Cincinnati/Dayton area.
I really can't find any rough parts of the Ohio Turnpike at all. I am not trying to boost it, but I really can't find any really terrible parts to the Pike. Now, the only problems that have occured were about 5 months ago when Ohio introduced the E-Z pass, traffic would get backed up quite a distance on a lot of the on ramps. Thats really not a problem anymore unless you are in rush hour in the Toledo or Cleveland areas.
I understand Michigan gets bad weather, but I look at Minnesota who has really good roads, and they get even worse weather (colder temps, more ground movement). They are fairly spread out, and have a lower population, but that could be said for Michigan as well. Minneapolis/Saint Paul is a heavily populated area with great roads. Yes, you mention the bridge collapse, but that could happen anywhere in America. Our country's infrastructure status is at a D right now.
Detroit is a heavily populated area, as well as SE Michigan, but the roads can't compete with the Twin Cities. Michigan has a serious problem with its roads. For companies to move to a state, infrastructure plays a big role. Michigan really needs to work on this as they desperately need new businesses. I wouldn't sugarcoat these problems, instead, throw them out there and get word going that things need to get done.
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