Engaging in a final push before Tuesday’s statewide vote, Gov. Rick Snyder today launched a multi-city bus tour at a closed bridge in Macomb County to urge a “yes” vote on Proposal 1.
The bridge, located on 32 Mile Road, a major east-west thoroughfare between Macomb and St. Clair counties, was suddenly closed last month and will likely remain shut down for more than a year.
It appears the deteriorating structure will serve as a poster child for the Proposal 1 road funding campaign in its final days.

Located west of Romeo Plank, spanning the Clinton River, the bridge is crossed by an estimated 15,000 cars daily. Though the span had been labeled “deficient,” no weight limits had been placed on the 85-foot bridge prior to the closure.
The bridge will be completely rebuilt at a cost of approximately $2 million. Parts of a bridge built in 1920 were incorporated into the current structure, which was completed in the 1960s. Referring to the rapid decline of the bridge over the past year, a Macomb County road engineer recently said he “had never seen such deterioration is such a short amount of time.”

The campaign for Proposal 1, which would boost road/bridge funding by increasing the sales tax, has transitioned from a focus on safe highways to the negative impact on Michigan jobs and tourism due to crumbling, pothole-filled roads.

Here is the press release that went out earlier this afternoon:
Gov. Rick Snyder and other supporters of Proposal 1 today held a news conference urging citizens to vote “Yes” for safer roads and bridges on the May 5 ballot.

The governor visited a key bridge in the northern party of Macomb County to kick off a multicity bus tour aimed at increasing support for Proposal 1 ahead of Tuesday’s election. County road officials last month closed the 32 Mile Bridge over the north branch of the Clinton River, near Romeo Plank Road, after an inspection showed the span had badly deteriorated and no longer was safe for motorists.
Speaking to reporters at Romeo State Airport after the bridge visit, Snyder said that failing to pass Proposal 1 will result in more bridge closures and deteriorating roads. Michigan spends less per person on roads than any other state and needs the $1.3 billion in transportation money that Proposal 1 will raise.
“We don’t like our roads,” Snyder said. “Let’s do something about it. This is our big opportunity.”
Joining Snyder at the event was Macomb County Intermediate School District Superintendent Michael DeVault, who said the additional $300 million Proposal 1 will bring to Michigan public schools is vital to providing students with a good education.
“Proposal 1 not only improves our roads but improves education,” he said. “Our kids deserve to have good schools and safe roads.”
Proposal 1 is backed by the state’s leading business organizations, county sheriffs, police officers and chiefs, firefighters and chiefs, and leading local elected officials from across the state. It means safer roads and bridges for Michigan families, and guarantees for taxpayers:

  • Proposal 1 raises $1.3 billion in new transportation money each year: revenues that must, under our constitution, go to transportation and to fix our roads and bridges.


  • Proposal 1 gives Michigan taxpayers three strong guarantees:


1. Under Proposal 1, every penny in state taxes we pay at the pump is guaranteed to go to transportation. Proposal 1 ends the shell game played by the politicians in Lansing that shifts gas taxes to non-transportation purposes.
2. Every penny in the School Aid Fund is guaranteed in the constitution to fund education where it helps our kids the most: our K-12 schools and community colleges. No more shell games with education funding.
3. For the first time, road builder warranties would be extended to local road projects.  If the warranties are violated, the road builders — not taxpayers — will pay for the repairs.
 

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