State Readies to Spend More on Winter Maintenance

Lawmakers in the Michigan House are looking over a spending plan that would allocate more money to help localities that are trying to deal with the exorbitant price tag of clearing and maintaining roads this winter season. Many cities, townships and villages are now using money that was supposed to go for summer projects.

A part of the House plan calls for setting aside about $100 million to help cover the cost of snow plowing and repairing damaged roads. Through last month the State Department of Transportation alone has spent nearly twice as much as last year at this time on winter maintenance. With the combination of so many roads already in bad shape coupled with the severe weather we've been having and the experts are saying the potholes we'll be dealing with come spring will be considerable.