roads

Recent heavy rainfall brought significant flood damage to many southeast Michigan communities, including Washtenaw County. The Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners has declared a state of emergency, but, in order to get further aid, a state of emergency must be declared by Governor Whitmer, as she did in Wayne County. 12th District Representative Debbie Dingell spoke with WEMU's David Fair about the need for immediate help and a massive investment in new transportation and water infrastructure.

Over many years, there has been a precipitous decline in our bee populations and that has a significant and negative impact on agriculture and the health of our ecosystem. Bees are one of our great pollinators, and human habitat is a major problem. University of Michigan doctoral candidate Gordon Fitch shares with WEMU's David Fair a novel approach he co-designed to monitor bees within the urban landscape.

Washtenaw County voters approved both countywide millage proposals that appeared on yesterday’s primary election ballot.  

The Washtenaw County Road Commission will host a virtual meeting Tuesday night to inform voters on a millage renewal proposal they will see on the August primary ballot.  

The State Transportation Commission has given the go-ahead to Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s plan to sell bonds to finance Michigan’s most urgently needed road repairs.  But, as we hear from Rick Pluta, she says bonding does not solve the entire problem.

Governor Gretchen Whitmer says she’s ready to go-it-alone to come up with money to pay for road repairs.  That’s if Republicans won’t support her proposal for a fuel tax increase.  That was the message Whitmer delivered in her second State of the State speech last night.  We have more from Rick Pluta.

Governor Gretchen Whitmer has again called on Republican leaders to reconvene the Legislature to wrap up work on a new state budget and a plan to fix the roads.

The state Department of Transportation has just released a new five-year plan to maintain and fix Michigan’s roads.  We have more from Rick Pluta.

Four months after taking office, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer painted a not-so-pretty picture of Michigan’s infrastructure and education system, while speaking to a group of Ann Arbor area business and community leaders on the Eastern Michigan University campus.

The state House Transportation Committee meets today to continue hearings on fixing roads. 

Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s plan to fix the state’s roads in a single budget is getting pushback.  The head of the Republicans in the Senate has his own ideas for how to handle a new roads policy.

Governor Gretchen Whitmer will give her first State of the State address tonight.

Washtenaw County and its neighboring communities are experiencing icy roads, and crews are working around the clock to make everyone's commute a lot safer.  WEMU's David Fair talks to Washtenaw County Road Commission director of operations Jim Harmon, who presents an update on the road crew's work.

The Washtenaw County Road Commission has named a new managing director.

Governor Rick Snyder and state lawmakers have an extra $315 million to work with as they finalize the new budget.  

Milan city council members say badly maintained roads are one of voters biggest complaints. But are residents willing to pay more taxes to fix the problem?

Since January, Governor Rick Snyder has been traveling the state with his rock collection – more accurately, hunks of concrete, asphalt, and brick from crumbling roads and bridges.  

“This is a piece of Michigan road,” he says he holds up a chunk of concrete twice as big as his fist. “This is the kind of thing that can fall on your vehicle or go through your windshield. That’s scary folks.”

The governor spent the last full day before voting begins on those scary roads trying to convince voters to support Proposal One.

Voters are about to decide whether to raise Michigan’s sales tax from 6 percent to 7 percent. If they approve Proposal One, that generates $1.3 billion to fix roads and another $300 to $400 for schools and local services. If it’s voted down, Governor Snyder and the Legislature go back to the drawing board. 

The Southeast Michigan Council of Governments (SEMCOG) are collecting public feedback on short and long term transportation plans. The proposals are billed as the "2014-2017 Transportation Improvement Plan" and the "2040 Regional Transportation Plan." The first public hearing on the comprehensive measures took place Wednesday at Washtenaw Community College. WEMU's Andrew Cluley was there.