Improving Our Streets
Good government is a government that responds to citizen concerns and needs. St. Johns City Commissioners have regularly received feedback from residents indicating that fixing our city streets should be a top priority.
In the most recent citizen survey 68% of respondents identified the need for street repairs and improvements as the number one issue. Recognizing the problem is only the starting point for addressing our deteriorating streets in a meaningful way.
Engineering studies show that more than 60% of our streets are in poor condition. But it doesn’t take an expert study or formula to tell us our streets are reaching “critical mass”.
Our elected officials want to be responsive to resident concerns, but this is a problem that doesn’t go away unless there are adequate funds available to develop a street improvement program.
Over the last several years the City Commission has squeezed every last penny out of the City’s operating budget to do street repairs. Additionally, city staff scoured federal and state sources for street improvement grants. We are now at a point where there are no grant funds available and local money has been exhausted. Governor Snyder’s ambitious initiative to build a fund for state highway improvements is languishing in legislative committee rooms.
Even if the state legislature acts on the governor’s proposal, there is very little chance state appropriations for roads will trickle down to small Michigan communities like St. Johns.
Competition for capital improvement grants and street funds are so intense large city needs (Lansing, Grand Rapids, Flint, etc.) invariably trump the requests of towns our size. If a small community receives state monies for streets, it’s usually because that community is near a larger city (e.g. Dewitt/Lansing). Our location precludes us from receiving priority funding of this nature.
The current state funding system even allows transit authorities to compete for and obtain road monies that we might otherwise qualify for. What we are left with is an annual disbursement from the state (called “Act 51” funds, generated from gasoline taxes). The Act 51 money we receive doesn’t even cover the most basic street maintenance, which includes cold patching, crack-band sealing, snow plowing and the purchase of salt for winter conditions.
At the federal level, Congress has thus far refused to even introduce legislation addressing infrastructure improvements. The federal budget is in a shambles and with the burgeoning federal debt continuing its upward trajectory it is unrealistic to hold out hope that some day soon federal money will be available to fix city streets. There is no other way to say it; we currently have no funding source to deal with our street problems.
In future articles I will discuss the four year street improvement program the City Commission has recommended, and the ballot proposal that would authorize a limited four year street millage for this purpose.
This month the City will also be sending residents an informational brochure which addresses many of the frequently asked questions about this initiative. Stay tuned.