For the second straight year, the Road Commission for Oakland County has had to reduce its winter maintenance staff because of falling gas tax revenues.
The road agency announced today that it will have about 50 fewer employees to man and maintain snow plows/salt trucks this winter. The reduction means that storm clean up is going to take longer than in previous years.
"That is about one third fewer drivers this year than we had in 2007," said RCOC Board Chairman Richard Skarritt of the staff reduction. "We are not happy about this situation. Safety is RCOC's No. 1 priority, and it pains us greatly to have to reduce the level of service we can provide."
According to the RCOC, this is the fifth straight year in which its primary source of operating funds — from the state gas tax and vehicle registration fees — has declined.
"Those five years of decline follow nearly 10 years of virtually flat revenues," RCOC board member Greg Jamian said. "We'll receive less funding in the current fiscal year than we received in 2000."
As a result, the county has been making cuts and finding ways to operate more efficiently. To date, the RCOC has been able to avoid layoffs simply by not replacing employees as they leave or retire.
The agency now has 104 fewer employees than it had in 2007.
In a typical winter storm, Oakland County fields 106 snowplows/salt trucks with initial drivers staying on the road for up to 16 hours before taking a mandatory rest.
In years past, the RCOC was able to replace the initial 106 drivers with up to 84 drivers for the second 16 hours shift; this year, the road commission will have less than 40 drivers for the second shift.
The economic situation will mean the RCOC will again be forced to institute a reduced level of winter road maintenance on some state roads.
Because major state roads (those designated with an "I", "U.S." or "M' designation) will receive first priority; secondary roads in subdivisions may see delays in clean-up, according to RCOC spokesman Craig Bryson.
"It's not that we won't clean the roads, it will just take longer to get to them," Bryson said. "That's what happens when you have fewer bodies."
According to the road commission, state routes that won't be affected by reduced maintenance include: I-75, I-96, I-696, I-275, M-59, the M-5 extension (Haggerty Connector), U.S. 24 (Telegraph), M-24 (Lapeer Road) and the freeway portion of M-10 (Lodge Freeway.)States routes that will see reduced maintenance (basically "one pass" plowing/salting) include: Woodward, Northwestern Highway, Grand River in Farmington Hills, Rochester Road in Rochester Hills and Auburn Road in Rochester Hills.
Others are Square Lake between Telegraph and the I-75 business route and Ortonville Road (M-15) north of Dixie Highway.
The Road Commission of Macomb County will also field a smaller winter maintenance staff, according to Bob Mykytiak, maintenance supervisor.
"We're down about 37 guys from 2004-05," Mykytiak said. "We haven't laid anyone off; we're just not filling positions lost through attrition. We'll have about 75 salt trucks out for the first shift in a storm and then about 60 drivers for the second shift."
According to Mykytiak, only two state roads will see reduced maintenance due to cutbacks: M-97 and M-19 (Gratiot) out near Richmond. Residential areas can also expect to see slower clean up responses from road commission trucks, Mykytiak said.
The Wayne County Department of Public Services could not be reached for comment.
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