FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Dustin Earley
Phone: 517.482.1189
Email: dearley@micountyroads.org
Rising tides threaten county roads across Michigan
Lansing, Mich. – Rocks the size of a Volkswagen. That is what’s needed in some locations to fix the eroding shoreline of Lake Superior, according to Doug Mills, PE, engineer-manager of the Baraga County Road Commission (BCRC).
Why? Great Lakes water levels are the highest since the 1980s. The tide is rising, and it’s not going to ease up anytime soon.
In April, the County Road Association of Michigan reported that Michigan county roads with Great Lakes shoreline will require a staggering $53.4 million in immediate fixes.
“These fixes are very expensive undertakings and there’s a lack of readily available sources for the material needed,” Mills said. “Placement of rocks and moving material and equipment down to the shoreline are only some of the challenges we face.”
As tourist season begins, eroding shoreline and damaged roads are becoming an even bigger problem. In Ontonagon County, high water levels are threatening the east entrance of Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park, Michigan’s largest state park.
“To see such a well-traversed county road eroded like that is jarring,” Mike Maloney, PE, engineer-manager of the Ontonagon County Road Commission, said. “CR 107 has been an important road to generations of tourists as they visit the state park. It’s concerning how this is going to affect our community.”
Emergency funding is typically meant to address single-event storms, so it will not cover the costs of high water-related road repair. Special state or federal appropriation will be needed for this problem.
“We need help!” Mills said. “Hopefully, the state legislators and our Congressional delegation can provide some funding to address this issue before it spirals out of control. The current problem is ongoing and is exacerbated by each storm event and the normal pounding of the shoreline by waves.”
The issue is the cover story in the latest edition of Crossroads, the quarterly journal of the County Road Association (CRA) of Michigan, which can be viewed digitally or downloaded at https://micountyroads.org/newsroom/crossroads/.
The 83 members of the County Road Association of Michigan represent the unified voice for a safe and efficient county transportation infrastructure system in Michigan, including appropriate stewardship of the public’s right-of-way in rural and urban Michigan. Collectively, Michigan’s county road agencies manage 75 percent of all roads in the state, including 90,000 miles of roads and 5,700 bridges. County road agencies also maintain the state’s highway system in 64 counties. Michigan has the nation’s fourth-largest local road system.
