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MDOT may lift ban on trucking hazardous materials across Ambassador Bridge

Michigan Radio Newsroom — Thu, 09 May 2013 20:05:56 +0000

The Michigan Department of Transportation may remove a ban which prohibits truckers from carrying hazardous materials across the Ambassador Bridge.

Rob Morosi, an MDOT spokesman, says most of the items currently considered hazardous are just normal household materials.

Theft, deterioration rob Metro Detroit freeways of light

Sarah Cwiek — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 22:39:55 +0000

If you’ve driven on any Metro Detroit’s major highways recently, you may have spent some time in the dark.

That’s because the region’s highways have been plagued by some recurring power outages.

The outages have hit most major highways in and around the city, especially portions of I-94 and I-96.

In some cases, whole stretches of highway have repeatedly gone completely dark.

Michigan Department of Transportation spokesman Rob Morosi said MDOT has removed some streetlights because they were old and unsound, and lost others to accidents.

But Morosi says the bigger issue is thieves who target transformer cabinets beside the highways, particularly for their copper wire--which can be sold for scrap.

“And we’re seeing an increase in copper theft in and around the metro Detroit area, and most of these lighting outages can be attributed to that theft,” Morosi said.

Morosi says MDOT is trying to fix the problems, but funding is tight and repairs are expensive.

“At this point in time, funding is an issue for this department,” Morosi said. “Infrastructure investment is obviously something we’re keeping a close eye on, and we’re hoping something can be done in Lansing.”

MDOT officials also hope proposed legislation to crack down on scrapyards will help out.

Morosi says it’s difficult to put a price tag on fixing the problem because “it’s such a moving target.”

Nearly all major freeways have been affected, and Morosi estimates as many as 20 percent of the freeway lights around Metro Detroit aren’t working for one reason or another.

Michigan's future transportation needs (and costs) will be under review this week

Steve Carmody — Mon, 01 Oct 2012 13:30:01 +0000

A special task force starts work this week to try to come up with a plan to better spend state tax dollars to fix Michigan’s roads.

The Michigan Department of Transportation is spending about a billion dollars building and repairing the state’s roads this year.

But to keep pace with what’s needed to just maintain the state’s infrastructure, its estimated Michigan would need to spend $1.4 billion.

State Senator Roger Kahn wonders if that money is being spent efficiently enough.

State announces milestone in long-delayed Gateway Project

Sarah Cwiek — Tue, 15 May 2012 21:58:27 +0000

State officials celebrated a major milestone toward finishing the long-delayed Gateway Project Tuesday.

They opened a road that will route trucks directly to the Ambassador Bridge from surrounding highways.

The Gateway Project is meant to better connect the bridge and highways. It’s also supposed to keep heavy truck traffic out of southwest Detroit neighborhoods.

Yes, that snow plow is moving slower

Steve Carmody — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 16:48:31 +0000

Michigan is getting its first significant snowfall of the year this evening. If you live in southwest Michigan, you may notice the snowplow in front of you is moving slower than you’re used to.

When a snow plow is dumping salt on icy roads, state Transportation officials refer to it as "Bounce & Scatter".

As the salt hits the road, faster truck speeds mean more salt tends to bounce and scatter, much of it landing off the road.

MDOT spokesman Nick Schirripa says to reduce the scatter salt trucks in nine southwest counties will slow from 35 to 25 miles per hour this winter. The hope is slower speed will save money by using less salt.

But Schirripa admits the slower speeds could put the trucks at greater risk of being rear-ended by inattentive motorists.

“If we find out after a season, or a few weeks of it, the crash rate is simply too high, that safety is too much of a factor, the (pilot) program may in fact be dropped," says Schirripa.

If the slower salt truck pilot program is successful, it may eventually expand to the rest of the state.

Lawmakers expect changes to how Michigan pays to fix roads

Lindsey Smith — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 19:05:57 +0000

A new study shows the conditions of Michigan’s roads will continue to decline unless the state can come up with a lot more money to maintain them. More than a third of Michigan’s roads are in poor condition.

The study was released this week by a bipartisan group of state lawmakers. It shows the state needs $1.4 billion more each year for at least 85-percent of roadways to be in good or fair condition.

Ambassador Bridge owners vow to wrap up disputed Gateway Project

Sarah Cwiek — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 21:48:01 +0000

The owners of the Ambassador Bridge say a disputed construction project will get done by a court-imposed January 2012 deadline.

The Detroit International Bridge Company and the Michigan Department of Transportation have been in court for two years over the Gateway Project, a disputed construction project meant to better connect the bridge with surrounding highways

Making Michigan's roads accessible to all

Steve Carmody — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 14:36:29 +0000

Making Michigan’s roads better is the job of a state appointed committee that holds its first meeting this week. The legislature created the Complete Streets Advisory Council last year.

1 in 4 Michigan bridges 'Deficient' or 'Obsolete'

Thu, 14 Oct 2010 21:30:08 +0000

A new report paints a dim picture of the bridges that many Michigan motorists use every day.

The Michigan Department of Transportation says one in four of Michigan’s 44 hundred bridges are either "structurally deficient" or "functionally obsolete"

Department spokesman Bill Schreck says despite millions of federal stimulus dollars spent in the past year on road improvements in Michigan problem bridges are still in need of repair.