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Senate bill could cause damage to area roadways

“Boy, are those roads bad!” You’ve probably heard that statement, or something similar at some point in the past few years.

Maybe when you heard it, it was in reference to driving in wintry weather conditions. But for the purposes of this editorial, it applies to Michigan’s crumbling, deteriorating, potholed roadways that all of us drive on daily.

Our roads are a problem, and as it currently stands, Senate Bill 396 could make the problem worse.

There’s probably no amount of “sugarcoating” we could use to try to cover up or downplay the poor conditions of our roads. It’s simply a fact that can’t be denied — the roads are rough.

But it’s fair to say that our lawmakers have ultimately come to realize this as a major concern for the majority of driving Michiganders.

There’s an allocation of about $1 billion going toward state freeways and another $1.4 billion being distributed to local road agencies for the 2019 fiscal year, which begins Monday.

By raising fuel taxes and registration fees, the Legislature took action a couple years ago to find funding that will be used to repair our roads. That’s a step in the right direction, even if it was a little late.

Meanwhile, state legislators, with Gov. Rick Snyder’s signature, authorized another roughly $300 million in road funding when the 2019 budget was adopted earlier this year.

Media reports indicate that about $65 million of that $300 million will go to local municipalities, while another $117 million will be directed toward state highways, and the other $117 million will be sent to county road commissions.

If you talk to officials, or if you’ve ever read the Journal’s reports on these matters, then you’ll know that the money is appreciated, but more is certainly needed.

Many have talked about declining state revenue sharing being an issue for local governments, oftentimes causing cutbacks in many different ways, including road repairs.

If you look around the Upper Peninsula, you’ll find some municipalities that have gone to voters with hat in hand to ask for millages and higher taxes so they can afford to fix their roads.

Now, SB 396 looks as though it could cause more damage to some of our thoroughfares.

The legislation, sponsored by state Sen. Tom Casperson, R-Escanaba, would remove many of the seasonal restrictions surrounding the transportation of forestry products and equipment on county roads. The governing boards of Marquette and Baraga counties both recently opposed the measure.

Seasonal weight restrictions are meant to protect our roads from damage done by heavy vehicle traffic when the roads are soft, typically during that spring thaw period of the year.

Casperson, who worked in the logging transportation business for decades, said the bill would allow county road commissions to require a $2,000-per-mile bond for unrestricted forestry vehicle travel.

That might help offset some costs to repair the damaged roads, but it’s likely not going to be enough.

In a time where county road commissions are already struggling with financial issues, causing further harm to roads they oversee doesn’t make a lot of sense.

Casperson, in a recent Journal article, cited a situation in the Lower Peninsula as a reason for the legislation. We can’t say his intentions were misguided in sponsoring the bill, but this proposal may exacerbate the already bad condition of our rough roads.

If additional financial assurances were put in place to help road commissions, maybe the legislation could work. But at this point, we believe there’s room to improve the measure to offset the inevitable damage that will be done to roads.

Casperson said he’s willing to talk more with road commissions about how a viable solution might be reached and we hope that happens so a deal can be made to benefit all parties.

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