Autoblog

The usual line from a preacher at a burial is "Ashes to ashes, dust to dust". Well something along those lines may soon be happening to some roads in Michigan. After my recent treatise on the process for (de)constructing roads in the Great Lakes state, an article turned up in the Lansing State Journal indicating that some county officials are contemplating an alternative to repaving decaying thoroughfares. With a complete repaving costing $100,000 per mile and repeated patching potentially costing even more over time, Clinton County is considering grinding up at least one road and returning it to gravel.

With the state of Michigan suffering perennial budget shortfalls and everything already pared to the bone, this may be the only financially viable option for some counties and municipalities. The gravel option is considered only a temporary fix until the financial situation in the state improves. However, there are currently no indications that will happen anytime soon. If they do start grinding up some roads, hopefully they will at least grade them periodically, in which case they may be smoother than they are now.

[Source: Lansing State Journal]