Road Commission Offers Extensive Update, Info Session

By DIANNE ALWARD-BIERY

Cleaver Senior Staff Writer

HARRISON – The Clare County Road Commission’s community information session held Friday, Feb. 13 began with Dewayne Rogers, CCRC managing director, providing an update on the new road commission building project. This was done with the aid of a speed time-lapse video of the project provided by contractor FED, starting from bare ground to its current enclosed state of construction. Rogers explained that the road commission had defrayed much of the cost by doing the foundation preparation work which included hauling in some 75,000 yards of sand.

He also projected a shot of the Scrap Tire News magazine wherein the CCRC project done with Michigan Tech University was spotlighted, a project Rogers said went well.

The upcoming trip to Lansing was mentioned, where the Clare County Road Commission will be honored as Employer of the Year.

Another item of local interest is the salt used on Clare County roads, and Rogers described the process by which it is ordered. He said salt ordered in March is done by estimating; after the salt barn is filled then estimating as use begins. The supplier, Detroit Salt, keeps data on customer usage, and the charts Rogers provided gave a thorough breakdown of salt usage,  cost and averages over five years.

Part of the road commission’s obligations is its contract with the Michigan Department of Transportation to maintain M-115, U.S. 10, U.S. 127, and M-61. That makes those highways the first priority for snow clearing, followed by blacktop, paved roads, gravel, then subdivisions. That contract means salt is partially MDOT and partially county.

Rogers then informed that frost laws would be going into effect at 6 a.m. Wednesday, Feb. 18 to prevent road damage. He explained that freezing happens from the pavement on down, and thaws in the same direction. That results in a water trapped in the gravel above the frozen base and below the thawed pavement, leaving the paving vulnerable to damage. The CCRC website provides a map of those roads restricted by the frost laws. He emphasized that a 2-foot-deep ditch provides adequate drainage, allowing seeping from under the road surface.

Rogers also spoke of the new traffic counter radar which is replacing rubber tubes placed across roads. The radar can determine whether the crossing vehicle is a car or a semi-truck, as well as geographic location, all of which helps to coordinate data better. As an example, he showed a nine-day analysis from Colonville Road in October during which time it gathered data on 13,712 vehicles. It provided numbers of vehicles analyzed, average speed and length for five separate vehicle length ranges.

Next up was the asphalt PASER rating done by MDOT, which denotes Good, Fair and Poor roads. A chart denoting all the roads in the county by township was provided, as was a survey printout showing the Clare County Overall Rating. A slide showed the Michigan Poor Roads ranking of counties from 1-81 [Arenac and Lapeer counties were not listed], for which the 2024 PASER ratings were shown. Clare had 182 miles rated, with a result of 16% poor, 50% fair, and 34% good. Rogers said that tallied out to being in the top 10 for least poor roads; 13^th out of 81 for fair roads; and 7^th of 81 for good roads.

“Some roads are poor but we’re doing pretty darn good for roads across the state,” he said, and then directed people to the CCRC website Construction Map showing proposed projects for 2026. They will include 12 miles of gravel road projects expected to use 35,491 tons of project gravel and 12,365 tons of maintenance gravel for a total of 47,856 tons. That work will include ditching and drainage culverts. Rogers said that is work that leads straight to a green [good] rating. He also cited work done from 2020-2025 as progress on 63.25 miles of road that have gone from a poor rating to good in the last five years. There were 59 projects completed in that time period.

Project before-and-after slides included: culverts on Athey Road [done in 16 days], Dover Road and Colonville Road; bridge maintenance on Colonville Bridge, Brand Road bridge; Cook Road bridge; and the scrap tire baskets that weighed 2 tons each which MTU is monitoring for a study. Additional work included improvements to Eberhart Avenue in Grant Township, Maple Grove Road in Surrey Township, Cornwell Avenue in Arthur/Hatton townships, Harrison Avenue in Grant Township, and Old State Road in Lincoln Township.

Also noted was the DTE Clarwin Avenue culvert – done through a road use agreement. Rogers said DTE had approached the road commission, and that DTE had provided escrow for the project, although it did not included labor costs.

The presentation then turned to statewide revenue sources for Michigan roads. On hand to provide some clarification about transportation funding was Ed Noyola, chief deputy director/legislative director for the County Road Association of Michigan. For those unfamiliar, this group is tasked with speaking up in Lansing to represent road commissions across the state.

A CRA slide shown by Noyola noted that locally-raised revenue is a growing trend, and that Michigan has 34 countywide road millages, 580-plus townships that have millages, and millages customized to meet local needs. A listing of 2024 road millage levies in Clare County showed no levy in Garfield, Hatton, Redding, Sheridan or Surrey. In FY 2025, no local unit project contributions were received from Arthur, Garfield, Redding or Surrey [source: page 21 of the Act 51 Report].

Overall that year township mileage revenue was based on 760.04 local roads; 243.43 primary roads; and 24,650 population. The resulting Michigan Transportation Fud revenue was $25,653.47. The township contributions total was $2,315,092.81; with primary road expense totaling $3,918,280.50 and local expense totaling $6,047,733.97. [Those expenses include labor, fringe benefits, equipment, material, payables and overhead, as well as federal and state projects entries]

The FY 2025 MTF distribution was $7,755,701.52 for Clare County.

Noyola explained that information provided to the State and Local Transportation Subcommittee Jan. 21, 2026, showed the projected 39.1% going to County Road agencies total as $13,172,790.

The Michigan Transportation Fund is not used only for roads, and before any of its funding goes through the process, 2% of all gasoline collections go to the Recreation Improvement Fund [$25.8 million in 2024]. That breaks out to 80% Marinas, 14% Snowmobile, and 6% Admin/ORV.

Roughly another $650 million is taken out before it gets to counties and municipalities: MDOT administration; statutory grants; grants to other state departments/special programs; the Comprehensive Transportation Fund [transit]; Transportation Economic Development Fund; local bridges, railroads, Wetland Mitigation, moveable bridges and MDOT debt service. In FY 2024, the final step was for the rest of the MTF going to MDOT [$1.3 billion], Counties [$1.2 billion], and Cities/Villages [$724 million] – which is the 39%, 39%, 22% split.

As everyone is aware, there have been changes brought to the 2025 Transportation Package. Part 1 is the Neighborhood Roads Fund, which is projected in FY 2026 to total $1.1 billion derived from corporate income tax, General Fund $1.2 billion, Michigan Housing/Community Development $50 million, Neighborhood Roads Fund $688 million, plus the wholesale marijuana tax $420 million.

Of that $1.1 billion, $100 million will go to the Local Bridge Program, $40 million to the Rail grade Separation Fund, and $100 million to CGF/Infrastructure Project Authority. Of the remaining funds, MDOT will get 20%, municipalities 28%, and counties 52% (using an internal distribution formula). The first priority for those funds are Engineering Services and Snow Fund, with the second priority being each county road agency. Country primary roads are allocated 75% with 25% going to county local roads. Notably, no local township or county match can be required for those last two.

Part 2 of the 2025 Transportation Package is the Gas Tax for Sales Tax Swap which is projected in FY 2026 as 21-cents more per gallon, realizing $1.1 billion.

After the “Off the top” items previously noted, the remainder will break out as 39% MDOT, 39% to County Road Agencies (using the internal distribution formula), and 22% to Municipalities.

The “bottom line” was described as yielding a $1.1 billion Neighborhood Roads Fund, with an additional $1.1 billion Gas Tax for Sales Tax Swap, minus $600 million in redirected income tax. Overall, $1.6 billion in new funding is projected for FY 2026.

Rogers explained that, while no match can be required for the Neighborhood Roads Funds, the local units match to MTF monies enables better solutions and longer-term results for their townships.

The delay in Legislative action to approve the transportation funding has led to delay in current funds as well. Rogers said that Clare Roads has lost $200,000 a month since Jan. 1, but that the new funding formula should get it back to even by the end of the fiscal year. He said the road commission should end up with an extra $2 million, although it’s not a reality yet.

Rogers also urged townships to trust the road commission to use the money appropriately/wisely, and that it would still rely on township contributions, immensely. He said the additional money would enable hiring capable personnel and make the road commission more effective.

The problem created for townships by the swap out of gas sales tax was noted, a portion of which goes to local units and schools. The townships had received a portion of that tax, and lower income means less money for projects.

Noyola said that swap would mean a 19%-20% hit locally, and that nothing is available currently to backfill what has been lost.

“Try to keep the road millage,” Rogers said. “And we will help any way we can.”

Anticipated hot spots/projects include Industrial Drive north of Harrison which Rogers described as “falling apart,” Davis Street in Redding Township, along with looking for problem spots in every township. He said he wants townships to see nothing change with the road commission.

 Noyola also informed that the gas tax, which is affected negatively by electric vehicle use, would be addressed by institution of a road tax via a $106-$120 surcharge for an EV at the time of annual vehicle registration. It also was noted that the 2027 budget could include a $7.5 million road usage charge pilot to address changes in mileage capability [MPG].

The audience was replete with township officers, and Rogers indicated he would make the PowerPoint presentation available to all who wished it. In all, the presentation was highly detailed and vastly informative. And, as always, conducted in the knowledgeable, considered and professional manner that has become synonymous with the Clare County Road Commission.