State, local spans need work

If the collapse of the Minneapolis' I-35W bridge increases your anxiety whenever you cross one of Michigan's bridges, don't dismiss it as paranoia. Like much of the nation, Michigan's infrastructure needs work.

Two consecutive administrations - Gov. John Engler's and now Gov. Jennifer Granholm's - made state roads and bridges a priority with good reason. The poor condition of Michigan's roads is a matter of national notoriety and many of our bridges aren't much better. Just last March, concrete fell from an Interstate 696 bridge in metropolitan Detroit.
Federal and state officials are assuring Americans they are paying close attention to the status of our nation's bridges. Michigan Department of Transportation officials sent inspectors back to four bridges last week in response to the I-35W bridge's failure.

According to a report last month from the Michigan Infrastructure and Transportation Association, however, more than 200 bridges are in serious or critical condition. Minnesota transportation officials knew for years the bridge was structurally deficient.

We can take comfort that the two spans of the Blue Water Bridge are in relatively good condition. The original span, built in 1938 and reconditioned in the late 1990s, received a sufficiency score of 700 from the U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Highway Division in 2003. The new span, built in 1997, was given a 760 score. Based on safety and usefulness, the ratings are on a 1-to-1,000 scale.

St. Clair County's second-busiest span, the Interstate 94 bridge over the Black River, carries 35,402 vehicles a day. MDOT plans to replace the overpass as part of its plan to revamp the Interstate 94-69 corridor near the Blue Water Bridge.

Other aging bridges in St. Clair and Sanilac counties also need attention. The I-35W bridge disaster renews public concern about their condition.

Michigan continues to suffer as a donor state. The state receives fewer federal highway funds than it contributes to Washington each year.

The state's bridges and roads should receive far more maintenance than they get. Like many other states throughout the nation, bridge fear in Michigan cannot be dismissed as just a phobia.