Transportation

The sky isn't falling, but the bridges? Let's keep our fingers crossed

May 16, 2019, 8:00 AM

We've all had that queasy feeling of being stopped in traffic under one of Michigan's criminally neglected overpasses, glancing up at the salt-stained...is that plywood? The only thing that stands between the decaying underside and my car? ...and sending up a silent prayer to the god of death: Not today.


Yeah, that looks totally safe. (Photo: Safe Roads Yes)

Please.

Anyway, the news about Michigan's highway bridges is bad, worse than the pitted roads, and a Free Press investigation says it could take "a century" to bring them up to safe standards. 

As of 2018, there were 62 bridges around the state that were actually closed to traffic, including 13 in Wayne County. Overall, it's a nightmarish portrait that requires attention.

...You can blame the weather. More so, you should blame the funding, which is tied to state transportation spending. Michigan, historically, has not put enough money into fixing its bridges.

In 2015, Michigan ranked 42nd nationwide for road spending for every 10,000 vehicle miles traveled, according to the Citizens Research Council of Michigan. Spending has gotten more generous since, but we are still below the national average.

Bridges are costly to fix, and decades of neglect have only made them costlier. 

It's a long story, which you should read, in between investing in a crash helmet and never, ever riding in a convertible under one of those things. 


Read more:  Detroit Free Press


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