EMMET CO., MI -- It seems odd to think of a paved road being changed back to a gravel road.
But in Emmet County, that's exactly what's going to happen.
The lack of funding is transforming some roads back to the Stone Age.
"You're lucky you don't blow out your tires every time you drive down the road," laughs Robert Bowden, who travels Larks Lake Road. "Nobody goes from, in theory, a nice, paved road, back to a dirt road."
It's like the movie "Back To The Future." Emmet County just doesn't have the funds, so they're moving in a backward direction, for the future.
"We don't see any foreseeable future where we'll get federal money to reseal it, so we're going to be pulverizing a 3.1 mile stretch of Larks Lake Road between Stutsmanville Road and Robinson Road, and it's going to stay gravel," said Emmet County Road Commission Manager/Engineer Brian Gutowski.
The stretch of road in Pleasantview Township that used to be one of the main routes to the now-closed Camp Pellston Prison is in shambles.
“You’re going to take a paved road and turn it into dirt, seems like you’re going in a backwards direction to me, “ said resident Tony Conrad.
If you've traveled down Larks Lake road, you'd notice that a large portion has actually pulverized itself, and that's why Emmet County Road Commission has decided to change it from paved back to gravel, and this, this could be the start of an unfortunate trend. Up to 50 miles in the county could go from paved to gravel because the funding, it's just not there.
"They just want a decent travel road, and we've assured them that it'll be a lot better being a gravel road then it is going to be a pothole-ridden paved road," said Gutowski.
Maintaining the road by repairing potholes costs $20-$30 thousand a year. Maintaining it as a gravel road: $10 thousand a year. Construction to pulverize will begin in September.
The cost to pulverize the road will be about $12 thousand.
Gutowski blames this move on reduced federal and state funding.
By the end of 2009, 38 counties in Michigan have returned 100 miles of paved roads to gravel.
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