County executive urges state lawmakers to fund road repairs

Above: Wayne County Executive Warren Evans was in Hamtramck Wednesday to talk with reporters about the need for road repair funding. Hamtramck City Manager Katrina Powell is on the right.

 
By Charles Sercombe
It’s hard to believe that when a road gets repaired, it’s a major news story.
But such is the state of things in the metro area and the state. On Wednesday Wayne County Executive Warren Evans came to Hamtramck to talk to reporters about repairs being made on Conant and elsewhere in the county.
Evans used the opportunity to urge state lawmakers to come up with a funding solution to repair roads – something they have been unable to do for two years now while the condition of roads deteriorate statewide.
“I’m to the point where they need to make a decision – fix it,” Evans said.
He said the county has $23 million to spend on road repairs, but that amount will only cover 14 projects.
The county has over 700 miles of road, half of which are in need of repairs, Evans said.
“The reality is, there is not enough money, but we just can’t sit back and wring our hands,” he added.
Conant has been in poor shape for several years. Despite repeated pleas by city officials for the county to step in and repair its road the answer has been the same: Get in line and wait.
City Manager Katrina Powell took on the project soon after being hired in December. She attended several meetings with county officials to get Conant moved up on the list of repair projects.
Two weeks ago the county began milling and resurfacing the worst sections of the street, and it is now in much improved shape.
But Powell stressed that this is a temporary repair and the county will still one day completely resurface the street.
Evans said the temporary repair is an example of the county and community leaders working together.
“It’s about working with communities,” he said. “That’s what county government is about.”
As for the deadlock among state legislators, he blamed it on a “polarized” political environment in Lansing.
Evans also vowed to make it “simpler” for the county to coordinate repairs to county-owned roads that border between two or more communities.
One of the roadblocks cited in the past about repairing the portion of Conant that runs between Hamtramck and Detroit is that it takes the cooperation of both city officials to sign off on repairs.