BEVERLY HILLS (WWJ) -- Oakland County has identified the need for $112 million per year in additional funding to improve all paved roads.
On Thursday, the Road Commission for Oakland County (RCOC) produced its first asset management plan, revealing that amount of money is necessary in order to maintain all paved roads to the agency's desired condition.
Regularly produced asset management plan documents were mandated by the state in response to road agencies urging legislatures for increased road funding.
These plans identify all assets owned by the agencies, including roads, bridges and traffic signals, with the intention to answer the question of whether or not available current road funding is adequate to address current needs.
“This report is an amazing tool for our agency,” explained RCOC Managing Director Dennis Kolar. “It provides a very clear picture of our assets – mainly our roads and bridges – and their current conditions as well projecting their likely future condition given available funding. We did what the Legislature asked, and it clearly showed that additional revenue is needed, which is consistent with studies and reports produced under previous administrations. Now, it is time for the Legislature to step up and adequately fund local roads for the long term.”
Officials noted the $112 million in additional funding needed each year includes only maintaining and improving the paved surfaces of the roads -- it does not include widening or other improvements to the roads to address congestion.
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Currently the RCOC receives approximately $115 million in state road funding.
The report notes that in 2022, 46% of RCOC’s paved main roads are in good condition, which is up from about 9% in 2016.
Kolar stated that he attributes this improvement to the 2015 state road-funding package that generated the first increase in state road funding since 1997 -- and which began generating additional funding in 2017.
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“Essentially, this report explains how we are prioritizing the work on our road system to maximize the benefit of woefully insufficient funding,” Kolar noted.
However, he has warned that beginning in 2025, RCOC expects the condition of the roads to begin deteriorating as the “buying power” of the 2015 road-funding package is eaten up by inflation.
