LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – Michigan roads, which continue to be bad and under constant construction, were a central theme in Democratic Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s first campaign to be governor. Over and over again, she complained about the “damn roads” and promised to fix them. However, after countless dollars have been spent on repairing the state’s roads, most Michiganders are wondering what exactly has been done.

In July of this year, the governor’s office tried to explain the progress the state has made in fixing the “damn roads.” Gov. Whitmer says in a press release, “Across Michigan, we are moving dirt and fixing the damn roads to drive economic activity, help Michiganders go to work, drop their kids off at school, and run errands safely. Through the end of this construction season, we will have fixed, repaired, or replaced nearly 20,000 lane miles of state-owned roads and 1,400 bridges since I took office, supporting 89,000 jobs without raising taxes by a dime.”

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However, a 2022 report from TRIP, a Washington, DC-based transportation research nonprofit organization, says that road conditions continue to get worse and are costing Michigan drivers $4.3 billion annually in vehicle operating costs or an average of $1,093 per household.

They point to inadequate roads and highways causing accelerated vehicle depreciation, additional repair costs, increased fuel consumption, increased tire wear, traffic crashes, and delays in traffic due to congestion and unreliability.

TRIP reports, “The growth and development of a state or region hinges on efficient and safe access to employment, customers, commerce, recreation, education and healthcare via multiple transportation modes…Ensuring Michigan’s continued economic recovery and growth will require that the state invests adequately in its transportation system, which is critical to the health of the state’s automotive, manufacturing, agriculture, education and healthcare sectors, all of which are vital to the state’s economic growth and stability. But deficiencies in the transportation system remain an economic burden to Michigan households.”

Michigan residents might be surprised to know that Michigan law actually allows drivers to be compensated for damages caused by potholes, although according to Bridge Michigan, it’s a system “set up to deny claims and limit damages.”

The law allows Michigan drivers to seek damages under $1,000 for damage from defective highways if road agencies knew or should have known about the defect and “had a reasonable time to repair it” before the incident happened. Most would argue that $1,000 is too low an amount to be compensated for in comparison to the damage that can be caused to a vehicle from a pothole which can get into the thousands of dollars.

After looking through records obtained through a FOIA request (Freedom of Information Act), Bridge Michigan found that because of high burdens of proof and government immunity laws, Michigan road agencies approved less than 8% of claims in the past five years and only awarded drivers less than $150K in total.

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They reported that drivers in Wayne County, arguably where some of the worse roads exist, haven’t had a claim approved since 2018 and no claims have come out of Kent County in the past five years. That’s probably not due to a lack of anyone hitting a pothole and more likely to be because Michiganders don’t know they can file a claim – or how to do it.

Attorney, Jonathan Marko told Bridge Michigan, “This is a very complicated, rigorous system, full of pitfalls that are stacked against the average person.”

With more than 122,000 miles of public roadways that are maintained by state and local agencies, drivers have to first figure out who to file a claim with by checking with MDOT or the local county road association to track down the information. The drivers also have a limited time to file – only 120 days for the state roads and 90 days for local ones.

Bridge Michigan found that only 20 of 83 country road agencies even had damage claim forms posted on their websites and information on how to file a claim. Bridge Michigan, on the other hand, has some information here to help you out (and they wish you good luck). They also came up with four easy fixes to the problem, reform they say that is neither complicated nor expensive which includes raising a cap on damages from $1,000, extending the period to file claims, streamlining the process or setting aside $5 million for a statewide pool of relief.

However, even though easy solutions to the problem exist, pothole repayment doesn’t seem to be a priority for legislators this year. It certainly wasn’t mentioned in Gov. Whitmer’s recent “What’s Next” for Michigan speech. So for those who want to get their motor runnin’ to head out on the highway and look for adventure…just be aware that “whatever comes our way” is likely to be potholes.