County road commissions too costly, some say

By JACOB KANCLERZ
Capital News Service
LANSING – Gov. Rick Snyder and some legislators want to merge the state’s county road commissions into their respective county governments. Supporters say the move could save millions of dollars for each county. But some road commissioners say underfunding the roads is the problem, and they’d like to see more revenue raised first. All but two of Michigan’s 83 counties have county road commissions that are independent from the county government. County road commissions maintain and improve local roads and bridges and have been around since the early 1900s.