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facts & figures

38 percent of Michigan's major roads are rated in poor or mediocre condition, including Interstates, state highways, and key local roads and urban streets.

28 percent of the state's bridges are either structurally deficient or functionally obsolete, directly impacting safety and mobility due to weight restrictions, narrow lanes and other correctable factors.

Vehicle travel on Michigan's major highways increased by 27 percent from 1990 to 2004 - jumping from 81.1 billion vehicle miles traveled in 1990 to 103.3 billion vehicle miles traveled in 2004. At the same time, total lane miles in the state increased by only four percent.

The average one-way commute time in Michigan increased 14 percent between 1990 and 2000. That works out to an additional three working days over the course of a year.

Michigan needs to increase its spending on roads and bridges by approximately $700 million annually to repair roads and bridges, relieve growing traffic congestion and improve the movement of commerce in the state.

Seventy-seven percent of the $321 billion worth of commodities delivered annually to and from sites in Michigan are transported on the state's highways.

Federal data shows a $100 million investment in transportation improvements yields nearly 4,750 jobs across the economy, with less than 25 percent of those in the actual construction field.

Driving on crumbling and congested roads costs Michigan motorists an average of $318 annually, for a total of $2.2 billion per year.

Road & Highway Facts

The first Michigan road map – with only three roads on it - was published by the U.S. Congress - 1826.
Michigan's first four lane divided expressway -- Detroit Industrial Expressway – ran between Detroit and Willow Run 1941.
The shortest state trunkline road is M 212 in Cheboygan County. It is only 0.7 mile long.
The longest highway in Michigan is I 75 which runs 395 miles from the Ohio border to the International Bridge in Sault Ste. Marie.
Michigan has a total of 120,256 miles of roadway (9,716 miles of state trunkline, 89,755 miles of county roads, and 20,785 miles of city and village streets).
There is enough pavement in Michigan roadways to build a one-lane road from the Earth to the moon.
More than 96 billion miles are driven on Michigan roadways every year, the equivalent of more than 500 round trips from the Earth to the moon every day.
M 185 (on Mackinac Island) is the only state highway in the nation where motor vehicles are banned.
The shortest freeway in Michigan is I 375 in Detroit. It is only 1.1 miles long.
Eight Michigan highways began as Native American trails: US 2 (from Sault Ste. Marie to Green Bay), I 75 (from Detroit to Saginaw), I 94 (from Detroit to St. Joseph), I 96 (from Detroit to Grand Rapids), I 94 (from Detroit to Port Huron), US 41 (from L'Anse to Marquette), and US 12 (from Ypsilanti to Chicago).
The first surveyed road in Michigan was Pontiac Road (now called M 1 or Woodward Avenue) connecting Detroit and Pontiac - 1819.
The three-span US 12 camelback bridge in Mottville is Michigan's longest remaining bridge of this type.
One of the most unique bridges in Michigan is the siphon bridge carrying old US 2 over the Manistique River. The bridge deck is actually four feet below the water level, and has been featured in "Ripley's Believe it or Not!"
The first border-to-border concrete highway was M 16 from Detroit to Grand Haven 1920.
There are 10,754 roadway bridges in Michigan. Of these, 4,411 are on the state highway system and 6,343 are located on county roads or city streets.
The statutory width of Michigan's road right of way is 33 feet, or two rods (16.5 feet times two), on either side of the road's centerline.
There is only one driveway onto a Michigan interstate freeway: a gated entrance to I 94 to allow movement of military vehicles at the former Fort Custer, west of Battle Creek.
The towers on the Mackinac Bridge (552 feet high) are almost as tall as the Washington Monument (555 feet).
Adopt-A-Highway volunteers have removed more than 1.4 million bags of trash from state roadsides since their start in Michigan in 1990. Approximately 2,500 citizen volunteer groups pick up trash three times a year on nearly 6,000 miles of state highways.

Facts courtesy of the Michigan Department of Transportation

What could Michigan do for its roads with an extra $100 million per year?

Pavement:
Estimated statewide average cost to reconstruct one freeway lane mile is $1.5 million. Michigan would be able to reconstruct approximately 65 freeway lane miles with additional $100 million.

Estimated statewide average cost to rehabilitate one freeway lane mile is $0.375 million. Michigan would be able to rehabilitate approximately 270 freeway lane miles with additional $100 million.

Bridges:
Estimated statewide average cost to reconstruct one bridge is between $1.2 million and $1.8 million. Michigan would be able to reconstruct approximately 55 bridges at the higher estimated statewide average cost and approximately 80 bridges at the lower estimated statewide average cost with additional $100 million.

Estimated statewide average cost to rehabilitate one bridge is between $0.5 million and $0.7 million. Michigan would be able to rehabilitate approximately 145 bridges at the higher estimated statewide average cost and approximately 200 bridges at the lower estimated statewide average cost with additional $100 million.

Capacity Increase:
Based on the current definition for Capacity Increase (CI) projects:
Estimated that an additional $100 million per year would fund the construction of approximately two to four CI projects per year, depending on scope of individual project and location.

Estimated that an additional $100 million per year would enable advancement of a significant number of CI pre-construction phase activities that include EPE, PE, and ROW phases.

Intersections:
Estimated statewide average cost to reconstruct an intersection is $0.7 million. An additional $100 million would fund reconstruction of approximately 140 intersections.