Road commission doesn't know where to get funds

ALLEGAN, Mich. (WOOD) - Allegan County road officials don't know where they will get the funds to pay for
repairs after a giant washout on Allegan Dam Road, they said Thursday.

The road, near M-40 in south-central Allegan County, washed away Wednesday after the morning storms had passed.

The rainwater ripped the ground out from under the
surface of the road, leaving a gaping hole where there
was once a roadway.

The road commission's budget already is strained, said
Bill Nelson, the managing director for the commission.
The group has no idea how it will pay to fix the road.

The answer, Nelson said, is in Lansing, adding that this is one more example of why a better funding package needs to be in place.

"We keep knocking on state legislators that we need an improved transportation funding package," he told 24 Hour News 8. "Our revenues are down and have not increased since '97. It's not a good picture."

Allegan County has been negatively impacted by a number of washouts in the past couple years.

In June 2008, Dean Taylor and his great-aunt Jean died when the drove into a washout near Saugatuck. The road was repaired using federal funds that had been appropriated for the storm.

In June 2009, a bridge on 48th Street was lost. Repairs are still ongoing and expected to be complete by August. It had been slated for replacement and that funding was moved forward to make the fix.

The section of the washed-out Allegan Dam Road will remain closed for the foreseeable future. The best the road commission can do, Nelson said, is hope for no more rain.

"To tell you the truth, I am not sure how we are going to pay for this," Nelson said. "It's surely not within our budget. Fortunately, we do have a little reserve, but we have eaten into that for the last two years. In fact, we are kind of in a deficit spending right now."