Public pressure is mounting on Democrats to find a solution to Michigan roads that are crumbling faster than they’re being fixed, with both residents and businesses urging lawmakers to take action now.

Five years after voters elected Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on a promise to “fix the damn roads,” Michiganders told WXYZ the situation has only gotten worse.

Bradley Dillaha, who runs a food truck with his sister Jessica, described Michigan roads in one word: “atrocious.”

Go Ad-Free, Get Content, Go Premium Today - $1 Trial

“It’s hard cause there is a lot of traffic and to try to merge and get over. A lot of people are trying to stay in one lane because one lane is bad, the other one is worse,” he said. “It’s not fun.”

“The potholes are unbelievable,” Jessica added, “and then they are fixing many sections at once instead of maybe just working on one and getting it done, and then moving on, so we have all these detours.”

The complaints follow the Michigan Infrastructure and Transportation Association’s repeated warnings to lawmakers about the consequences of ignoring the state’s $3.9 billion annual funding shortfall for roads and infrastructure. The association represents about 500 companies involved in road and bridge, sewer and water, utility, railroad and other construction.

After lawmakers rejected Whitmer’s pitch to raise fuel taxes by 45 cents to raise revenue for road repairs, the governor borrowed $3.5 billion in 2019 to pay for highway reconstruction projects, which runs out next year.

Go Ad-Free, Get Content, Go Premium Today - $1 Trial

Do you think the economy will come back roaring quickly when Trump takes office?

By completing the poll, you agree to receive emails from The Midwesterner, occasional offers from our partners and that you've read and agree to our privacy policy and legal statement.

In May, Whitmer claimed on X that “through the end of this construction season, we will have fixed, repaired, or replaced nearly 23,000 lane miles of state-owned roads and 1,600 bridges since I took office.”

But here’s the roads reality, courtesy of Michigan’s 2023 Road & Bridges Annual Report: “Roads are deteriorating faster than the agencies can repair them.”

The report shows while the state improved 16.2% of roads eligible for federal aid between 2021 and 2023, 21.2% of those roads declined. It’s the same deal for non-federal aid roads, of which “47% were found to be in poor condition … (or) 2% more than from 2021 and 2022,” according to the report.

The roads report, compiled by the Michigan Asset Management Council, predicts that by 2035 52% of roads will be in poor condition, 28% in fair condition, and 20% in good condition.

“The reality is, is that there is a lot more work to do and we will be on a slippery slope if we don’t do something about how we fund our roads,” Rob Coppersmith, the executive vice president of the MITA, told WXYZ.

To highlight that concern, the MITA recently sent lawmakers a breakdown of road conditions in every Michigan House and Senate district.

“The idea of the maps was that, we were thinking if I were a lawmaker, I would really want a clear picture of what this looks like for my district,” Coppersmith said.

Folks who spoke with WXYZ in Detroit aren’t surprised by the funding shortfall, and seemed to understand the ramifications of ignoring the problem.

“It shows it’s been a problem for a long time, so to hear that it is underfunded, I mean, it is more expensive because they’re underfunded so it’s just piling onto itself,” resident Steven Alex said.

Others like resident Mellanie Wheeler said they’re willing to pay more for better roads, but seemed skeptical that lawmakers would follow through once the revenue comes in.

“Often taxes raised to toward a particular issue and the issue still exists, so I wouldn’t want to pay more in taxes if we still have bad roads,” she said.

Coopersmith said it’s ultimately lawmakers’ responsibility to find the funding.

“I don’t feel like it’s MITA’s position to come up with a solution, but to just educate that we need a solution, that is what we have elected officials for,” he said.

While Democrats who control the legislature continue to vet the possibility of imposing a system to tax motorists by the mile to cover the road funding shortfall, they’ve included billions in pet projects in recent record budgets.

Spending in the record $82.5 billion 2025 budget includes about $411 million in pet projects for lawmakers, such as $10 million for a youth sports complex in Frankenmuth, $10 million for Lansing’s Potter Park Zoo, $2.5 million for an indoor sports facility in Shelby Township, $2 million for Detroit’s Downtown Boxing Gym, and $300,000 to provide Wi-Fi to Detroit casino patrons.

The budget also includes $156.2 million for a low-income solar program, $68 million for a solar factory, $30 million for EV charging infrastructure, $6.4 million to expand Medicaid services for migrants, $5.8 million to hire 31 new state employees to implement climate change policies, $3 million for e-bike incentives, $1.4 million for a “Menstrual Product Pilot Program” to put tampons in state-owned men’s and women’s restrooms, $1 million in legal services for “asylum seekers,” and plenty of other questionable spending.