More than one-third of all bridges in Kalamazoo County are in poor condition and in need of repair, according to a report by the Michigan Infrastructure Transportation Association.

The report said 50 of the 148 bridges in the county “are either structurally deficient or functionally obsolete,” according to a news release Friday from MITA, which represents construction companies and suppliers.

“In Kalamazoo County and across Michigan, we have sadly reached the point where our bridge and road system is no longer sustainable,” said Mike Nystrom, MITA’s executive vice president.

The Michigan Department of Transportation doesn’t dispute that many bridges in Kalamazoo County and the state need repairs, spokesman Nick Schirripa said.

“We know we have bridges that are in poor condition ... (but) that does not mean that they are falling down. That does not mean that they are any type of safety threat,” he said.
“MDOT will not keep a bridge open if it’s unsafe,” Schirripa said.

The agency is doing its best to keep up with bridge maintenance despite tight budgets and projected funding shortfalls of $320 million in 2011 and $140 to $180 million in 2012, according to Schirripa.

The MITA report said the number of bridges in Kalamazoo County in need of repair ranked 17th among Michigan’s 83 counties. Statewide, 28 percent of the state’s 10,831 bridges are showing “troubling signs of age and neglect,” the report said.

Data used in the report was collected from information contained in a local bridge report and a Michigan Department of Transportation bridge report.

MITA officials said both reports are available online at www.drivemi.org.

http://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2010/11/a_third_of_kalamazoo_county_br.html