As Michigan’s crumbling economy, so go some once-paved rural roads now being turned back into gravel.
About a quarter of the state's county road agencies largely left out of the federal stimulus package, which focuses on highways and other major thoroughfares, say they can't afford some costly repaving projects and have crushed up deteriorating roads.
Montcalm County alone estimates it saved nearly $900,000 by converting almost 10 miles of pothole-plagued pavement into gravel this spring.
As one official said, we were throwing good money into bad roads - it had to stop.”
Another said the new gravel road was “smoother than it was before, but wondered how they will maintain it - especially in the winter."
Many politicians doubt motorists would support higher taxes to fund road projects during tough economic times. But without new money, small agencies are left with few choices.
"We don't want to go backward, and I view this as going backward," said Tim Hammill, managing director of the Dickinson County Road Commission in Michigan's Upper Peninsula where 2.5 miles of paved road was converted to gravel last year. "It's depressing."
More of the story here.
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