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Grand Rapids Press: Road projects could fuel job creation and improve Michigan's economic development

March 02, 2010 00:00
Economic development officials agree on this. You cannot have a first-rate economy without first-rate roads, and you cannot have first-rate roads without more money to rebuild them.
So how do you persuade politicians to raise taxes or enact user fees to pay for roads?
Convince them they have no choice because every sector of our economy: manufacturing, tourism and agriculture relies on our transportation network.
Officials also point to the direct employment opportunities in road building and maintenance.

“This is all about jobs. We’re talking about thousands of construction jobs and engineering jobs,” said state Rep. Pam Byrnes, D-Chelsea, who has co-sponsored legislation to increase the gas tax.

http://www.mlive.com/news/index.ssf/2010/03/roads_jobs_employment_gas_tax.html

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