LANSING – Convincing Michigan residents to make an investment in maintaining and improving roads will be a critical issue in getting back to a plan to increase investment in the state’s roads and bridges, Governor Rick Snyder said Thursday in a radio interview.
With the Medicaid eligibility expansion now signed into law, finding an agreement on increasing funding for transportation improvements remains probably the largest goal of Snyder at this point unrealized.
In an interview on WJR-AM, Snyder said one part of the problem of getting an agreement is convincing the public that they will need to make the investment, through changed or additional taxes, to help pay for those improvements.
At various town hall meetings, Snyder said he has not heard from anyone who thinks the state’s roads are in good shape. But finding those willing to pay for the improvements is more difficult, he said.
The longer the state waits to make the improvements needed on the roads, the worse they will get, Snyder said.
“We really need to see if we can get people in Michigan saying they are willing to do an oil change instead of that engine rebuild,” Snyder said.
People need to keep an open mind on the issue, he said, “not just for us but for our kids.”
Snyder acknowledged the public does want to see sales taxes charged on gasoline and diesel purchases put to road usage, which would add as much as $1 billion to highway funding.
But doing so “creates a huge problem” for the state’s K-12 school system, Snyder said.
The state has to find a comprehensive answer to fund the roads, Snyder said.
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