Governor Rick Snyder said back in October that he’d like to reduce the size of government by allowing counties to manage roads. He called road commissions “unneeded.”

We agree. As we’ve mentioned before, by default counties cannot manage roads. That must be handled by a separate county government called a road commission. It’s archaic and not cost effective.

House Bills 5125 and 5126 will make it possible to consolidate these separate county governments. While both the House and Senate have passed variations of the bill, the House must approve of the Senate’s legislative changes.

According to a Detroit News article:

The Michigan House has approved measures that would allow county boards of commissioners to take over the powers and duties of county road commissions.

Appointed county road commissions could be dissolved by a majority vote of a county’s board of commissioners. Voters would have the final decision on whether to dissolve road commissions in counties where road commissioners are elected.

Ingham County is looking to absorb their road commission. Macomb and Wayne Counties went through the onerous county charter process which let them absorb their road commissions earlier.

What about Oakland County?

The Spinal Column has thorough coverage on this topic.

“(Oakland County Executive L.) Brooks (Patterson) has no desire to take us over, and if anyone studies the issue, they wouldn’t want to,” [RCOC Spokesperson Craig] Bryson said. We don’t think there would be an immediate response, but there could be in the future.”

One conclusion from reading the article is that some government officials are against it and willing to make rather outlandish claims as to why.

Bryson claims it “By moving the jurisdiction to the counties, it forces counties to raise property taxes to fund roads.” Not true. Roads are paid for through a separate funding stream. If this were the case, why would tax-averse Macomb County absorb their road commission?

County Commissioner Jim Runestad said,”In Oakland County, if (the county board) were to take over the RCOC, it would be highly politicized and the politics would weigh in on every decision.” Every decision? Is that what happens now at the local, state, and federal levels, all of which manage roads without a separate governmental body? Of course not.

The current system of electing Oakland County road commissioners is highly political. The Republican majority chooses a road commissioner every couple years and controls the process. It’s a separate county government that’s fully controlled by the Republican majority, and that is the likely reason why the Road Commission for Oakland County will continue in the near future.

Commissioner Runestead told the Spinal Column, “If there was a change in leadership on the county board, the RCOC’s days could be numbered.”

Here are just three potential changes which could greatly affect road funding — including bike funding — throughout Michigan.

The Good

According to Crain’s Detroit Business, Governor Rick Synder will call for changes to how Michigan collects tax revenues on motor vehicle fuel. Rather than collect a fixed amount per gallon sold at the pump, he is proposing a percent rate on the wholesale fuel cost. While it won’t raise taxes initially, the total taxes collected will increase with inflation and fuel price increases.

It makes sense to us.

Getting the state legislature to increase the fuel tax, something that hasn’t happened in 14 years, is difficult. The Governor’s proposal removes the need to vote on any tax increases.

The Bad

According to the Spinal Column newspaper, State Senator Howard Walker, a Republican from Traverse City, also wants to eliminate fuel taxes at the pump. He wants to replace the lost tax funding by raising the state sales tax by 1%.

That’s right. Rather than have motorists pay for roads, everyone would.

Those who drive more, say perhaps people in northern parts of the state, would pay less for their roads while those who drive less or not at all would pick up the tab. This proposal would subsidize driving more than we already do.

According to a recent national study, only 51% of road costs are paid by road users. This drop that percentage further with the difference coming from general tax sources.

The Ugly

The Washington Post has this article outlining the very real possibility that Transportation Enhancement funding could be stripped from the next federal transportation bill — or at least made optional at the state level. Enhancements represents about 2% of the total transportation bill.

Losing Transportation Enhancement funding would be devastating to bike facilities development in Michigan and across the U.S..

This is a primary source of funding for on-road improvements, like the 16 miles of new bike lanes in Southwest Detroit. This funding also supports trail development such as the Detroit RiverWalk and Dequindre Cut. And finally, it’s also used for streetscaping which improves walkability while often providing bike parking.

While cyclists and others have banded together to fight off prior attacks on this funding, times are different.

Please contact your Congressperson to let them know we cannot lose Transportation Enhancements.

Michigan Governor Rick Snyder is delivering his message on infrastructure and transportation next Wednesday.

Of course we want him to support multi-modal investments and complete streets.

We also want him to discuss Michigan’s interesting arrangement where county road commissions are in nearly all cases separate from county government.

We recently wrote the Governor and included the following thought:

Under Michigan’s unified form and general law county governments can manage parks, human services, health departments, airports, sewers, water supply, refuge collection, lake improvements, and libraries — but not roads. This means we have to have a separate county government just for roads, Having two governments with similar departments (e.g. law, planning, environmental) is redundant and wasteful. Requiring a county charter to eliminate this waste is not an easy solution.

Road Commissions were established in 1894 and based on Bay County’s Stone Road District of 1883. It’s time to move into the twenty-first century by changing state laws to allow the consolidation of county government and road commissions. ACT 51 should provide financial incentives to counties that consolidate in this manner.

Based on an earlier Detroit News article, he might be considering pushing for such consolidations.

Snyder is expected to call for efficiencies and reforms, including performance-measuring “dashboards” and simplified financial statements he has demanded from state and local governments. The governor also wants to encourage consolidation and is examining whether a regional approach to local roads makes sense, sources said.

What does that mean to cyclists? Consolidation can save transportation money while also bringing greater accountability to the public. If a county is not building complete streets, cyclists should be able to contact their elected county commissioners to demand change.

Regional approaches would be a benefit as well. It’s difficult advocating for bicycling facilities among the many dozens of road agencies across Metro Detroit. Having fewer would make that easier while producing more consistent results.

And regional approaches mean bike lanes would less likely end at a city’s borders.

Michigan Governor Rick Snyder gave a state of the state address tonight that touched on issues related to biking in Michigan, including this:

“I urge the prompt passage of a capital outlay bill that implements the recommendations of the Natural Resources Trust Fund. From the greatness of the land and the resourcefulness of the citizens of the Upper Peninsula to the unquestioned beauty and economic engine as our Great Lakes, natural resources and recreation have always been among our strongest areas. The Fund’s board of trustees has recommended 117 recreation and land acquisition projects totaling more than $100 million. These projects will positively impact every corner of our state from Iron County in the Upper Peninsula to Traverse City to Luna Pier in Monroe County. Also included is a significant expansion of the William G. Milliken Park on the Detroit Riverfront.”

That is excellent to hear and very welcomed. And it was good to see the bipartisan standing ovation it received.

However, it was just last Thursday when West Michigan legislators introduced bills (HB 4021, HB 4028, HJR B) that would raid the Natural Resources Trust Fund. It would divert upwards of 80% of its annual revenues. Twenty percent of the diverted funds would go towards the State Aeronautics Fund while the remainder would go to the Michigan Transportation Fund.

The intent of this Trust Fund is to take revenues from irreplaceable natural resources extracted from public lands and make longterm investments in new public lands and parks. This proposed Trust Fund raid would put most of the money into airports and road projects.

Having a deja vu? Yes, these same bills were introduced in the last session. They died in committee. It’s difficult to say if these bills will move further along given the new Republican control of the House.

Other items in the state of the state

The Governor said the state should reward municipalities that consolidate and share services. Does this mean they would provide incentives for counties governments to absorb their road commissions? Not sure.

It was great to hear the Governor promote wellness.

“We will look to build a system that encourages all of us to have an annual physical, reduce obesity and encourage a healthier, active lifestyle in our state”

As someone noted on Twitter, Complete Streets would help.

And lastly Snyder  threw his support behind the Detroit River International Crossing (DRIC). The DRIC’s current plans are to accommodate bicyclists and pedestrians. This could be one option for getting between Canada and the U.S.

Canada wants this new bridge so badly that they’ve agreed to cover Michigan’s capital investment. Canada’s loan would be paid back through bridge tolls.

The big news is the Federal Highway Administration has agreed to count this loan as Michigan’s match for federal transportation dollars. Without match dollars, the state could lose millions in road funding. This appears to be a huge win which removes some pressure to find transportation money in other places.

Like the Trust Fund.

MDOT Director to remain

We heard a rumbling last week that a new director of MDOT would be named. That would have been a shame since Kirk Steudle has been very supportive of Complete Streets and non-motorized transportation.  However, his support of the DRIC had cost him Republican support, to the point where some asked the state attorney general to look into allegations of MDOT publishing misleading data.

The Free Press is now reporting that he will continue to lead MDOT. We think this is a big positive for Michigan bicyclists.

West Bloomfield trail to grow

The West Bloomfield rail trail just added 2.3 miles of new abandoned rail line according to the Spinal Column.

“This acquisition has been over three years in the making. We are excited that all the past work and negotiations will eventually result in a universally-accessible trail in a few years,” said Parks and Recreation Director Dan Navarre. “It’s wonderful that the grant funding made this acquisition possible by funding the majority of the purchase.”

We’re not sure when the trail will be resurfaced to match the existing trail conditions. The article makes it sound as though cyclists and walkers could use the trail before it is completed. That would  be similar to what happened with the Clinton River Trail (part of the same railroad corridor) in Rochester Hills.

Windsor’s Riverside Drive

The Windsor Star is reporting on continued, thought apparently limited opposition to redeveloping Riverside Drive.

The project, which would see bike lanes and new pedestrian crossings installed across the city’s entire riverfront from east to west, would produce a huge improvement to the quality of life for a large number of Windsor residents at a relatively low price, while providing a major boost to the city’s image.

City planners had considered widening parts of the road, which was originally built on a narrow right-of-way to service cottages along the Detroit River.

But widening the road for vehicular traffic was rejected as unwanted by a majority of city residents, who cherish the road’s rustic, tree-lined character for jogging and cycling, not to mention Sunday drives with the top down.

That plans sounds like a Complete Street to us. We hope to see it built.