Last week I was fortunate enough to do what many families around Michigan were doing, spending my son’s Spring Break on a family vacation. Our trip took a slightly unexpected turn. Instead of flying, we ended up driving – all the way to Miami. As we drove through numerous states, several things stood out to me.
Our roads are still the worst in the region, but now by a much wider margin. I remember as a kid who traveled frequently to visit family in Kentucky that you could always tell when you were back in Michigan because the change in road conditions was as noticeable as the big blue sign announcing your arrival.
Now it’s even worse. All in all, on our round-trip journey we drove through Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Florida. At no time did we find a state with roads even remotely comparable to how bad they are in Michigan. Even more striking, gas prices in many of the locations were lower than what we are paying in Michigan.
The truth is, Republicans in Lansing have no plan to fix our roads (or our schools for that matter) because they have prioritized another “fix” – making sure their corporate donors are taken care of.
I can think of few better examples than the Republicans’ botched road “fix” package that shows their utter incompetence and complete failure to understand the economic issues facing many around our state. You are now paying more at the pump, more when you register your car and likely still paying more in repairs to your vehicle because our roads and bridges are in such bad shape.
As Spring hits the Great Lakes State, many more will take to our roadways and will be able to experience firsthand the Republicans’ failure on the roads package. It’s pretty indicative of their entire time in control in Lansing – a whole lot of talking about helping everyday Michiganders without really helping anyone but their rich and powerful friends.