Bridge profile: I-96 over M-39 in Metro Detroit
DETROIT (WWJ) -- A warning from the Michigan Department of Transportation: Without additional funding, more than 100 bridges across the state could be forced to close by the year 2035, impacting 1.8 million drivers daily.
In a news release Monday, said about two-thirds of its bridge inventory has far exceeded its original design life.
That includes the aging I-96 bridge over M-39, which is used by 45,000 drivers ever day.
"The 96/Southfield (Freeway) interchange is really at the center for a lot of industry, it's at the center for a major public works facility, and for a lot of residents that live adjacent to it," said City of Detroit Chief of Infrastructure Sam Krassenstein. "So, for folks that need to go between 96 and Southfield, keeping those bridges open and in a state of good repair in really critical."
Krassenstein is among those calling on lawmakers to approve a transportation funding package to make sure MDOT can continue to meet the needs of current industry, residents and people visiting or commuting into the city.
Within the MDOT Metro region's three counties, MDOT says 180 bridges are anticipated to be in poor condition and 37 of those bridges are at risk of closure by 2035. Nearly 1,000 of Metro region's 1,400 bridges are approaching or exceeding 50 years old.
Bridge replacements can take an average of two years to design and another one to two years to reconstruct, closing it to the public. While bridge replacements are expensive initially, they are considered a long-term asset and are now designed with an 80 to 100-year service life.
"At this rate, by decade's end, nearly 50 percent of state routes, which carry 53 percent of total traffic and 80 percent of commercial traffic, will be in poor condition," said MDOT Director Bradley C. Wieferich. "Without additional investment, those projections will get worse."
"If there is no long-term solution to Michigan's road-funding crisis, considerable progress in recent years will be stalled, meaning contractors will employ fewer workers and road conditions will decline," said Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity Director Susan Corbin. "The effects would spread across industries and communities, causing job losses, shrinking economic activity and creating long-term challenges for Michigan's workers and families."