DETROIT – The Michigan Section of the American Society of Civil Engineers rated Michigan's infrastructure an average of D+.
In the 2018 Report Card for Michigan's Infrastructure released Tuesday, the highest grade Michigan received was a C+ for solid waste, while the lowest grades were a D- for roads and stormwater.
Recommended Videos
The report claims much of the state’s infrastructure is reaching the end of its useful life and this contributes to factors threatening lakes, rivers, drinking water, and public health and safety.
The D- grade for roads comes from the claim that 39 percent of the 120,000 miles of paved roads in Michigan are rated as being in poor condition. Only 18 percent of the roads were rated as being in good condition.
Michigan’s Drinking Water systems scored a D. ASCE believes that drinking water system owners in Michigan are underfunding system improvements for Safe Drinking Water Act by $284 million $563 million every year.
The report also states that Michigan lacks a way to operate and maintain its stormwater infrastructure, and that more that 1,200 of Michigan bridges are rated as being in poor condition and structurally deficient.
"We can rebuild our roads, make our bridges safer, and prevent costly water main breaks — all things that will save us money in the long run," Myndi Bacon, co-chair of the Report Card for Michigan’s Infrastructure, said. "Michigan residents take pride in our most precious resource, our water. It’s time to make protecting our residents’ health and safety as well as our rivers, lakes and streams a top priority."
The report recommends increasing state funding, maintaining infrastructure, ensuring high-quality data gathering and asset management and more.