Roads in Wayne County Townships
Counties and their townships have a unique relationship on the
issue of road construction and maintenance. Unlike incorporated cities and villages,
townships do not receive gas tax revenues for roads and therefore must rely on their
county to provide nearly all road-related activities.
Wayne County's townships:
Brownstown, Canton, Grosse Ile, Huron, Northville, Plymouth, Redford, Sumpter, and
Van Buren
We hope this information will help you understand how Wayne County is working to
improve and maintain township roads.
Jurisdiction
Wayne County is responsible for maintenance and construction on all primary roads
[so-called "mile roads"] in townships. It also performs daily maintenance on all
state freeways, M-routes and US-routes [such as Michigan Avenue, Telegraph, Fort
Street and Ford Road]. The State, however, is responsible for the resurfacing and
rebuilding of these roads.
Wayne County also maintains township residential streets year-round, but it is not
responsible for making major improvement since the county did not build them. Residential
streets are built by developers and paid for by homeowners as part of the cost of
their home. Therefore, the cost of paving or resurfacing generally is borne by the
property owners, usually in the form of a special assessment district.
The County also is not responsible for access streets within condominium developments.
Those are private streets, the maintenance of which is paid for out of association
fees.
Townships and Road Funding
Why don't townships receive funding for roads as do cities
and villages?
State law specifies that cities, villages, counties, and the Michigan Department
of Transportation [MDOT] have jurisdiction over roads. These agencies are responsible
for constructing and maintaining the roads that fall under their jurisdiction. They
also carry the legal liability for the roads. Consequently, funding for roads is
provided by the state legislature only to these agencies. State law does, however,
provide the option for a township to incorporate as a city or village, which would
give it jurisdiction over roads within its boundaries. There is also a provision
in state law which allows townships with populations of more than 40,000, to receive
from their county road commission, 75 percent of the cost of maintaining the local
county roads within their borders, provided they levy at least one mill for road
improvement and maintenance.
How are road maintenance and improvement projects funded in
Michigan townships?
Most maintenance on roads in townships is funded with dollars allocated to county
road agencies by the state legislature. Most major road improvements [bridge replacements,
road widening, etc.] are funded with federal monies. In Wayne County, those monies
are allocated by the Wayne County Federal Aid Task Force, which is comprised of
representatives from Wayne County and each of its 43 communities.
State road funds are distributed according to a formula established by state law.
The formula provides 39.1 percent of state road funds to MDOT, 39.1 percent to county
road commissions, and 21.8 percent to cities and villages. This formula was amended
somewhat as part of the 4-cent gas tax increase in 1997. In that case, 100% of the
first penny went directly to MDOT, while the remaining 3 cents are distributed according
to the existing formula.
While townships are not included in the formula, the portion going to county road
commissions is intended to cover roads in townships. The reality, however, is that
state road funding historically has been woefully inadequate, especially in high-population
counties such as Wayne. To compensate for that, Wayne County transfers revenue from
its primary road fund to its local road fund to supplement its township road maintenance
budget.
How are major construction projects funded in townships?
While many projects in townships are paid for with state gas tax revenues, some
projects also require Federal Funds or special state grants. The county's Federal
Aid Task Force, based on objective criteria selects these projects. The availability
of township matching funds is not typically a consideration and would not result
in more township projects.
Do townships get back as much in service as they generate
in road funds?
Yes. In fact, they usually get back more. Townships, especially less populated ones,
do not produce as much gas tax revenue as larger cities, although they might have
a considerable number of roads for the county to maintain. To a certain degree,
the services in townships are subsidized by larger communities that generate more
taxes, including Detroit.
Also, just to pay for the cost of routine maintenance on its secondary roads in
townships, the county has to transfer up to $3 million per year out of its primary
road fund. Otherwise, many services, such as gravel road grading, guard rail repair
and ditch cleaning would have to be dramatically cut.
Homeowners & businesses in Wayne pay a lot of property
taxes. How much of those property taxes go to maintain and improve our roads?
Usually none. Unlike most county services, road-related receive no direct funding
from property taxes. Some townships and cities contribute some property tax revenue
to the improvement of county roads, but these contributions are provided on a voluntary
basis. Our only sources of road funding are the state gas tax and the federal gas
tax, the amount and distribution of which are decided in Lansing and Washington,
D.C.
Wouldn't townships be better off if they received state funding
directly?
The same level of service would probably cost townships more. Economies of scale
allow Wayne County to provide more service for the same dollars than an individual
township could. That's because the county is able to buy supplies, equipment, vehicles,
salt, etc., in bulk, and so, gets a better price than could an individual township.
Direct funding also could cost townships other funding. Wayne County participates
in road improvement projects only on roads under its jurisdiction. If townships
took over jurisdiction of local roads within their boundaries, it is unlikely that
county funds would be used on those roads, just as they are not used on city or
village roads.
Having their own funding would not likely result in any additional major construction
projects in townships, or make the projects happen any more quickly.
When Wayne County executes a project in a township, the township benefits from the
county's expertise, which results in the best construction work for the conditions.
If the township did the work itself, it would have to hire a consultant who may
not be familiar with the township's roads needs and design criteria. County staffers,
on the other hand, are Wayne County's local road professionals, and work closely
with township officials.
Another major factor is that liability would come with the funding. Townships would
receive the state road funding only if they also received jurisdiction for their
roads. And the jurisdiction would bring with it the legal liability for the roads.
It's no secret that, in this age of frequent litigation, liability can be costly,
in terms of judgments and legal expenses. Wayne County has the expertise to minimize
potential costs.
Project Selection
How are major improvements selected?
All Wayne County road improvement projects, such as resurfacing and reconstruction,
are selected based on a number of criteria. The first and most important is the
condition of the existing roadway. Each year an engineer rates every mile of county
primary road. Roads that rate in the worst condition are automatically put at the
top of the list for upcoming road repairs. Those repairs will get done as soon as
funding is available. The county uses this list to determine which roads its will
resurface itself, using its own forces. For projects on multi-lane roads that are
eligible for Federal Aid, those are selected by the county's Federal Aid Committee,
which is made up of voting representatives from Wayne County and each of its 43
communities.
Other factors that are considered in making a major improvement, such as a road
widening, include daily traffic volumes and safety statistics. A two-lane road in
poor condition that handles 20,000 vehicles per day will be rebuilt and widened
to five lanes before a similar road that handles only 12,000 vehicles per day.
Paving Gravel Roads
My residential street wasn't paved when my sub was built. Now my neighbors and I
want it paved. Will the County help?
Historically, the County has never been in the business of building anything other
than the major roads that connect its communities, not local streets. If a street
was not paved when the homes were built, it was a decision of the developer and
those who chose to live on a gravel road. Many people still prefer that option.
Wayne County has contributed up to $1 million per year toward the paving of township
residential streets. In each case, the county picked up 20 percent of the construction
cost. The reason for the change is that many unpaved roads have extremely high maintenance
costs and the county felt it could save money in the long run while improving driving
conditions for township residents. The other 80 percent of the cost still will come
from township funds or a special tax assessment to homeowners.
What about the primary roads that are still unpaved? What's the County doing about
those?
The County has been paving a much larger number of its gravel primary roads in the
past few years, thanks to a $60 million road improvement bond program and funding
partnerships developed with the County's various townships.
The decision whether or not to pave a gravel road is based upon existing or projected
traffic volumes, accident data and most importantly, available funding. The County's
priority for spending road dollars favors more heavily traveled roads that create
effective transportation corridors to connect communities. If a township, however,
is willing to pay a substantial portion of a paving project that does not meet the
criteria for County funding, the County will work with the township to help make
it happen.
Gravel Road Maintenance
What are the county's priorities for maintenance of gravel roads in townships?
While the county has only about 12 miles of unpaved primary roads, it has more than
300 miles of gravel secondary roads and streets that it is responsible for maintaining.
Primary roads always will have a higher priority since they handle more traffic,
but crews are out every day tending to secondary roads in townships. Here are some
of the services they provide:
Grading
& Dust Control
Unpaved roads require a great deal of year-round maintenance. Crews constantly have
to grade roads to eliminate ruts caused by vehicles. During the summer months, the
county sprays the roads three times with calcium chloride to keep dust down. While
the County does the work, it is the townships that set the frequency and schedule
of the treatments. County crews perform various levels of grading, depending on
road and weather conditions. If the road is wet, effective grading cannot be done,
so crews will smooth out the roads as best they can and return when the road dries
out and perform full-scale grading.
Stabilizing muddy roads
When the spring thaw comes, many gravel roads turn muddy and become difficult to
travel. This is a result of moisture that has accumulated in the ground over the
course of the winter. If it thaws too quickly, the water can't drain and vehicles
churn it in with the dirt to create a slick mud. When this occurs, county crews
dump large-stone gravel by the truckload and spread it to make the road passable.
Once things dry out a bit, crews return to smooth the road out with a grader.
Ditches
Ditch clearing also takes place constantly between spring and fall. Each year, the
county clears about 60,000 feet of ditches, up from only 20,000 feet just a few
years ago. The cleaning of ditches is prioritized by each of the county's maintenance
districts. The County also is responsible for clearing culverts and cross tiles
where drains run below its roads. Keeping ditches and culverts clear helps reduce
flooding, which can cause poor road conditions.
Individual homeowners can play an important role in keeping ditches and drains
clear by minimizing obstructions. Many townships have ordinances making it illegal
for homeowners to rake leaves into drainage ditches. Homeowners may even be ticketed
by their township if they rake the leaves into a county ditch, or allow trash to
block it, causing flooding elsewhere on the street. Please consult the township
DPW to learn more about the proper methods of disposing of leaves.
Snow & Ice
During the winter, gravel roads are treated a bit differently than paved roads.
While both are still plowed, gravel roads are not treated with salt. Instead, a
sand treated with magnesium chloride is spread on the road to break down any hard-packed
snow that may be making travel difficult.
For reasons of safety, the highest priority will be given to roads that have the
highest posted speeds and handle the most traffic, such as freeways, state trunk
roads and county primary roads. For these roads, the county has a "bare pavement"
policy, meaning that crews work on these roads until the snow is completely cleared
from curb-to-curb. The reason for this is that vehicles travel at much higher speeds
on these major roads, meaning the risk of serious accidents is far greater than
on local streets.
As is the case with most municipalities, the county will not plow residential streets
until there is six inches of accumulated snow. Few, if any, road agencies salt residential
streets because of the prohibitive cost and because maintaining a bare pavement
is not necessary, as it is on major arteries. Once enough snow has accumulated to
require plowing, crews will plow every one of its township residential streets,
after they complete the main roads.
The priorities for clearing non-primary roads start first with hills, intersections,
railroad crossings and curves. School bus routes are also a priority.
Mailbox issues
I have a mail box out by the road. What happens if it gets damaged by the heavy
snow being thrown by a county plow. Will the county fix or replace it?
The first thing to keep in mind about roadside mailboxes is that they are located
in the County's road right-of-way. Homeowners often forget this is not their property.
If a roadside mailbox is damaged as a result of county snow removal operations,
it will reset or replace the mailbox, if necessary, at no charge.
However, the county only will install a standard metal mailbox on a wooden post.
If you have chosen to install a custom mailbox next to the road, you are responsible
for the replacement of anything other than a standard model. For more information
on what types of mailboxes are recommended or permissible, please contact your local
Wayne County road yard, or the county permit office at: 734-595-6504
It is also good to remember to keep household garbage cans farther away from the
roadside after a significant snowfall. This will reduce the chances of them being
damaged by passing county snowplows.
Traffic Control
How are speed limits set on our roads? And why do some gravel roads have no posted
speed limit?
While it is the Michigan State Police that formally set speed limits, it actually
is motorists like you who establish the speed the State Police eventually adopt.
Here's how:
Before a road is first paved, there is no posted speed limit; it is actually what's
known as a prima facie speed limit of 55 mph [or lower as road and weather conditions
warrant]. The reason for this is because it is more difficult to guarantee the condition
of a gravel road will consistently be suitable to justify a certain limit.
Once the road is paved, county traffic engineers conduct studies to see at what
speed motorists naturally drive. It is a basic engineering principle that most motorists
will drive at a speed that is reasonable and safe, and that forcing them to drive
faster or slower reduces safety. Based on this principle, engineers follow the 85th
Percentile rule, meaning that whatever speed at least 85 percent of motorists drive
on this new road should be the posted limit. If, for example, 85 percent of motorists
drive at 46 mph, the speed limit the County will recommend to the State Police likely
will be 45 mph.
What about the placement of traffic signs and signals? Who's responsible
for them?
On any road in townships other than state trunklines, Wayne County's Traffic &
Safety office is responsible for signs and signals. Engineers rely on the Michigan
Manual for Uniform Traffic Control Devices to guide them in the often-difficult
decisions they have to make each day.
Most people are unaware of the effects of improperly placed, or confusing, signage
and poorly timed traffic signals. Engineers constantly have to resist pressure to
institute "feel good" changes, such as lower speed limits or unwarranted left turn
signals, if the evidence shows they will not improve safety.
For example, lowering a speed limit actually can result in an increase in rear-end
accidents or collisions from improper passing. The public's compliance with such
a change in speed limit also depends heavily on whether the local community can
provide the additional police enforcement on a regular basis.