LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – One of Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s biggest promises in the 2018 election was to “Fix the Damn Roads,” four years later and it’s proving to be a little more challenging than anticipated. 

Michigan’s unique circumstances including the climate, politics, and financial decisions have led to delays in fixing the plethora of potholes throughout the state. The area suffers from the nearly omnipresent cycle of freezing temperatures which causes the concrete pavement to contract.  The contractions cause small cracks to form which can become impregnated with water and then ice causing greater fissures to form.  Over time this can snowball into the famed Michigan potholes. 

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“We can improve the performance a little bit by materials, but we cannot prevent this. It would be super expensive; it’s not doable,” former research associate with Michigan Technological University’s Department of Civil Engineering Naser Sharifi said.  

An increase in salt usage throughout the state during the winter is also contributing to the decline in road conditions according to Executive Director and CEO of the Michigan Concrete Association Daniel DeGraaf. 

“It works great for getting rid of the ice and snow, but you are subjecting your pavement to much harsher conditions than you were before,” he said.

The road makers have also tried to use new solutions to combat concrete mixtures that turned out to be ineffective.  

Michigan road materials-makers developed a denser, more pasty mix using recycled slag or fly ash from coal-burning power plants and industry, and began using new tools to better track pavement life, DeGraaf said.

While some methods have stuck, others were more idealistic than idyllic. 

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“Back in the 1990s there were discussions of using recycled rubber from old tires in pavement,” Spokesman for the Road Commission for Oakland County Craig Bryson said, “We said, ‘This sounds great; it’s recycling; it will be good for the environment.’ And it was supposed to last.”

The road commission opted to use the technology on a portion of the 12 Mile Road in Troy near the Oakland Mall, but had to rip it up and repave it within two years according to Bryson. 

“We are certainly still interested in learning about new things and trying them. But you have to be very careful about it,” he said. 

Bryson also maintains not just the materials that need updating, but also the funding for the roads. 

“The problem is we can’t even afford to maintain the roads we have. Michigan is among the bottom states in the nation for road funding, and we have been for 50 years,” he said. 

For a state with notoriously bad roads, it may be surprising that a national highway report from the Reason Foundation, showed Michigan to be ranked 32nd out of 50 U.S. states in total road spending per mile of state-controlled roads. 

Though campaigning to fix the roads and not raise taxes, Gov. Whitmer’s 45 cent per gallon gasoline tax failed in the Republican led Legislature after she took office.  With challenges to raising taxes, road commissions are forced to make their own solutions albeit short term. 

“We slap down an inch and a half of asphalt to get another five or seven years out of a road, where in a perfect world we would be tearing it out and rebuilding it,” Bryson said. “We can do simple resurfacings three times over the cost of a total reconstruction of that road. But eventually, the base is so deteriorated, you can’t do that anymore.”

The more than 400,000 tons of salt a year in Michigan poses other potential problems, such as altering the salinity of surrounding lakes which has become a growing concern in recent years.