As Streets Deteriorate, Jackson Not Able to Keep Up

• Video shows neighbors discussing the condition of streets in Jackson, County Commissioner Corey Kennedy, statement by City of Jackson.
• Both Jackson County and the City of Jackson admit they lack resources to maintain existing roads due to inadequate funding mechanisms.
• Michigan's Transportation Asset Management Council predicts statewide deterioration of roads and streets over the next decade.
• New funding sources are required if deterioration is to be arrested.
• BONUS VIDEO: County Commissioner Corey Kennedy answers questions about road funding and maintenance.

(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story)

Though the cones are out, there seems to be no keeping up with the deterioration of local streets and roads in our neighborhood. How bad are they? Let's take a look at some of the worst.

"They fill it up, and then 45 minutes later, it's out of there," says neighbor Myron Smith about pothole repair.

This is Deyo Street. East Side of Jackson. One of the worst we've seen.

Potholes all through this block.

Smith says it's been like this for years [looking at large potholes].

I ask him: has he ever seen anybody hit that [pothole] hard?

"Yeah. Me," Smith says.

Smith says he had to replace tie rod ends and other parts.

As I drive down the street, bouncing with the car, I think, "Yeah, this is pretty bad."

This particular stretch of Washington Street between Cooper and Elm is patches upon patches. And a rough ride for people working in these factories here.

"There's a lot that needs to be done here in Jackson," says neighbor Sammy Garret. "Streets, lead pipes — we definitely have problems with the roads."

Like Smith, Garret says the patches don't last: "Oh, no. The rain washes them out sometimes."

I'm here on McBride Street between First and Second…and potholes galore here.

156 miles of streets in the City of Jackson.

Last year, the City paved one-and-a-half miles. You heard that right. One and one-half miles.

The City's response is as frank as it is bleak:

More than 1,000 miles of County roads surround our city.

This is Hoyer Road—Blackman between I-94 and Springport — not much better.

The aptly named Patch Road could use some work.

Says County Commissioner Corey Kennedy: "We've just got too many miles of roads that are rated poorly than we have funds to do each year."

Kennedy is equally blunt. He says Michigan's funding mechanism for roads is broken.

"Most people don't understand that the property taxes they pay on their home have nothing to do with funding roads in Michigan. Only the gas tax through Act 51."

And those revenues, he says, have been declining as fuel efficiency increases.

According to the State of Michigan's Transportation Asset Management Council, road conditions throughout the state are expected to deteriorate over the next decade.

So it seems unless additional resources are found, we are all in for an increasingly bumpy ride.

BONUS VIDEO: Q&A WITH JACKSON COUNTY COMMISSIONER COREY KENNEDY ABOUT ROAD FUNDING AND MAINTENANCE

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