GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — On Friday, Lieutenant Gov. Garlin Gilchrist visited two bridges slated for repairs in Grand Rapids. The I-96 and US-131 bridges over the Grand River will be among the first to get work done since the governor included $300 million in her latest budget for infrastructure.
Lt. Gov. Gilchrist and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer are finally making strides on fulfilling their attention-grabbing campaign promise to ‘Fix the Damn Roads.’ They also unveiled a $3.5 billion dollar bonding plan to pay for repairs over the coming years.
“The busiest roads, the most important bridges and getting them fixed right now is so critical,” said Lt. Gov. Gilchrist in Grand Rapids on Friday. “When this one finishes up, it’s going to be the first of a lot in west Michigan.”
The lieutenant governor also urged his colleagues in the state legislature to provide funding – and ideas – on fixing Michigan’s infrastructure.
“Going forward, long-term, we need to have a real solution for funding our roads and our water infrastructure and our internet access infrastructure and the legislature needs to come up with some ideas about how we can fund that sustainably over the long term,” he said. “I hope they don’t ignore this problem, the people of Michigan are not ignoring this problem.”
Testifying before a U.S. Senate committee last week, Gov. Whitmer revealed that 43% of Michigan’s major roadways are in poor or mediocre condition, and the same is true for approximately 1,000 local bridges.
Watch the event:
