County Road Association 2014 RUSH-PAC Senate Candidate Survey |
Thank you for using the electronic version of the RUSH-PAC candidate survey. Please submit your survey by Friday, June 6. We look forward to reviewing your responses and using them to learn more about you and your positions on transportation-related issues. We will be sharing your responses with the RUSH-PAC Board of Trustees and using them internally to make endorsement decisions. Upon request, we may discuss your answers with your county road agency(s). We will not share your responses in a public forum or with the media.
INTRODUCTION:
The state’s local road and bridge maintenance and improvement programs are suffering at an increasing rate with revenues at decade low levels. Despite the many reforms and efficiencies implemented at local road agencies across the state, there is nothing left to cut that does not impact the level of service and quality of life for Michigan residents.
Newspapers across the state have heralded the need for additional road funding as our local roads and bridges continue to crumble. It seems that everyone can tell you a story of someone who has had a bent rim or other damage caused by a pothole. This is not a short-term problem. Without increased revenues, additional cuts and continued deterioration are inevitable. The statistics are shocking.
• Approximately half of Michigan counties have returned paved roads to gravel because the failed roads are unsafe and the county road agency lacks revenue to properly reconstruct the roads.
• Nearly 20 percent of the more than 5,700 county bridges are posted with reduced weight restrictions or closed—increasing pupil transportation costs to school districts and emergency response time, and negatively impacting commerce.
• Michigan is losing $1 billion in asset value on our federal-aid road system annually as pavement conditions continue to deteriorate. The local road system is in even worse condition.
During the waning days of the 2007-2008 Legislative Session, the legislatively-approved and gubernatorial appointed Transportation Funding Task Force (TF2) warned “the one choice we cannot afford is to do nothing.” This spring we are seeing the results of ignoring those warnings. To quote the words of Gov. Snyder in his 2011 Infrastructure message, “it’s time to seriously engage in this issue that is so vital to Michigan’s future.”
The questions in this survey are divided into two sections. The first covers your connections to local transportation infrastructure and the people charged with the construction and maintenance of local roads.
Michigan’s 83 county road agencies and 533 cities and villages together maintain more than 90 percent of Michigan roads. Local roads impact every facet of our lives and are crucial to business and economic development, schools and families, emergency response times, public safety and health care, tourism and agriculture, and to every Michigan resident.
The second section covers key policy and budgetary areas of concern to the members of the County Road Association of Michigan.
Section I: Local Transportation Infrastructure and You
Your relationship to officials responsible for local transportation infrastructure is an essential part of your ability to represent the needs of your constituents in Lansing. We therefore ask all survey respondents to describe for us how and why they interact with county road agencies and other local transportation experts. This helps us evaluate your involvement in and command of key transportation issues that impact your district and the state as a whole.
Additionally, in order to understand how you will represent your community and local roads, we also ask a few items about your experience and professional background as it relates to key players and institutions that impact or are affected by the condition of local transportation infrastructure.
INTRODUCTION:
The state’s local road and bridge maintenance and improvement programs are suffering at an increasing rate with revenues at decade low levels. Despite the many reforms and efficiencies implemented at local road agencies across the state, there is nothing left to cut that does not impact the level of service and quality of life for Michigan residents.
Newspapers across the state have heralded the need for additional road funding as our local roads and bridges continue to crumble. It seems that everyone can tell you a story of someone who has had a bent rim or other damage caused by a pothole. This is not a short-term problem. Without increased revenues, additional cuts and continued deterioration are inevitable. The statistics are shocking.
• Approximately half of Michigan counties have returned paved roads to gravel because the failed roads are unsafe and the county road agency lacks revenue to properly reconstruct the roads.
• Nearly 20 percent of the more than 5,700 county bridges are posted with reduced weight restrictions or closed—increasing pupil transportation costs to school districts and emergency response time, and negatively impacting commerce.
• Michigan is losing $1 billion in asset value on our federal-aid road system annually as pavement conditions continue to deteriorate. The local road system is in even worse condition.
During the waning days of the 2007-2008 Legislative Session, the legislatively-approved and gubernatorial appointed Transportation Funding Task Force (TF2) warned “the one choice we cannot afford is to do nothing.” This spring we are seeing the results of ignoring those warnings. To quote the words of Gov. Snyder in his 2011 Infrastructure message, “it’s time to seriously engage in this issue that is so vital to Michigan’s future.”
The questions in this survey are divided into two sections. The first covers your connections to local transportation infrastructure and the people charged with the construction and maintenance of local roads.
Michigan’s 83 county road agencies and 533 cities and villages together maintain more than 90 percent of Michigan roads. Local roads impact every facet of our lives and are crucial to business and economic development, schools and families, emergency response times, public safety and health care, tourism and agriculture, and to every Michigan resident.
The second section covers key policy and budgetary areas of concern to the members of the County Road Association of Michigan.
Section I: Local Transportation Infrastructure and You
Your relationship to officials responsible for local transportation infrastructure is an essential part of your ability to represent the needs of your constituents in Lansing. We therefore ask all survey respondents to describe for us how and why they interact with county road agencies and other local transportation experts. This helps us evaluate your involvement in and command of key transportation issues that impact your district and the state as a whole.
Additionally, in order to understand how you will represent your community and local roads, we also ask a few items about your experience and professional background as it relates to key players and institutions that impact or are affected by the condition of local transportation infrastructure.