Sunday, October 16, 2005

Dale G. Young / The Detroit News "It is a balancing act because the system isn't going to work if all you build is the new stuff and leave the old stuff," says Michigan Transportation Director Gloria Jeff, left, talking with staff members.

Road to Ruin

Granholm, GOP spar over what's best for Michigan roads

Governor puts focus on fixing existing roads; Republicans say failure to build stifles growth.

By Gary Heinlein / Detroit News Lansing Bureau

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LANSING -- The division between Gov. Jennifer Granholm and key Republican lawmakers over road spending priorities couldn't be sharper.

State transportation chief Gloria Jeff has laid out a $6.28 billion plan that devotes nearly 95 percent of the state road budget toward fixing and maintaining existing highways from now through 2009. It is in line with Granholm's promise to complete the restoration of Michigan's aging highway system.

Critics, led by House Speaker Craig DeRoche, argue that it's a wrong-headed scheme in a state troubled by high unemployment and low growth. DeRoche, R-Novi, says the failure to build new roads and traffic lanes in Metro Detroit's bustling suburbs deprives Michigan of development that would spark a faster turnaround.

"This administration needs to realize that in order for Michigan's economy to grow, we need to build roads where people live, work and pay taxes, not where we wish they'd live, work and pay taxes," he grumbled after Granholm last month vetoed some 25 projects lawmakers had attempted to add to next year's state transportation budget.

Among them were proposals for congestion relief on I-75 from Eight Mile to Lapeer Road-M-24 in Oakland County; expansion of the I-96-Wixom Road interchange in Novi; and added traffic lanes along M-59 from Crooks Road in Rochester Hills to Ryan Road in Macomb County.

Such "parochial" projects, while not bad in and of themselves, undermine the constitutional authority of the state transportation commission, Granholm said in her veto rationale.

DeRoche, who accused the Democratic governor of being more interested in "social engineering" than boosting the economy with road projects, is considering drawing up legislation for a state bond sale to raise money for new highway lanes and interchanges.

Previous Gov. John Engler did so, and Granholm also used bonds to help restore projects desired by suburban lawmakers to the current road budget. State fiscal experts have said bonds add millions in debt and interest payments to the strained state budget, but DeRoche still considers them a good investment.

"Putting roads in good condition where people are choosing not to live and work should not be a priority when you're in 50th place among the states in job creation and economic growth," he argued.

Jeff's five-year spending schedule calls for a blend of repairs for the worst roads and patches to extend the life of Michigan's better roads, all using available tax dollars. The premise of her plan is that the state will get the best value from a balanced approach to maintenance and repairs.

Jeff also says congestion relief can come from a greater commitment to public transit systems, such as a light-rail line being considered from downtown Detroit to Ann Arbor past Detroit Metropolitan Airport. Many Republicans consider such planning a waste of money in the state where the automobile is king.

"I believe we have an investment strategy that appropriately balances protecting the billions of dollars that have been put in the transportation structure in the past, which needs to be retained, and continuing to invest new dollars in transportation projects that will provide economic growth or retention at the same time," Jeff said.

Michigan led the nation in completing its portion of the interstate highway system but fell behind on repairs and rebuilding. The effort to correct that problem, aided by a 4-cent boost in the state gasoline tax, began about eight years ago under Engler, a Republican.

Continuing the effort, Jeff's transportation plan devotes just less than $5 billion to repairing roads and bridges over the next five years, $978 million to safety-related projects and $345 million to new roads and additional lanes on existing roads.

The transportation department is committed to restoring 95 percent of the freeway lanes and bridges on state highways, and 85 percent of the nonfreeway paving and bridges, to good condition before 2008. Jeff says at the current rate of annual spending, the state will have barely enough money to reach those goals -- or fall just short of them -- without devoting any more dollars to expansion of the system.

She also wants to help relieve congestion through more extensive use of technology, such as Metro Detroit's computerized sign-board setup that warns motorists of tie-ups and suggests alternate routes.

"It is a balancing act because the system isn't going to work if all you build is the new stuff and leave the old stuff," she said.

"The goods and materials and the people still have to travel on all of the system."

Such comments fail to appease suburban and western Michigan lawmakers whose wish lists include interchange improvements on I-275 in Canton Township, additional lanes on I-75 in Oakland County, expansion of I-94 in the Kalamazoo area and completion of the US-131 freeway from south of Kalamazoo to the Indiana border.

DeRoche maintains such improvements would pay for themselves in new business and jobs and tax revenue. "If you build it, they will come," he said.