Two lawmakers hope their new report on the Michigan's transportation infrastructure will result in legislative action to help fix the state's crumbling roads.

State Reps. Rick Olson (R-Saline) and Roy Schmidt (D-Grand Rapids) released a report titled “Michigan's Roads Crisis: What Will It Cost to Maintain Our Roads and Bridges?” in anticipation of Gov. Rick Snyder's Oct. 24 address on state infrastructure

Short answer to the question in the title: Plenty.

The House Transportation Committee's Work Group on Transportation Funding estimates $1.4 billion in additional annual revenue will be needed annually for 2012-2015, increasing to more $2.6 billion per year by 2023 to make basic improvements to Michigan roads.

But, as Olson told a meeting of local transportation leaders Thursday at the Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce, funding improvements now is going to be cheaper in the long run than waiting.

“We're not talking about gold-plated roads here,” Olson said.

The report's goals include 85 percent “good” or “fair” ratings from the Transportation Asset Management Council for most of the state's roads eligible for federal aid, plus non-federal-aid roads that are also paved, and 95 percent "good"/"fair" for state trunkline freeways.

According to pavement-condition ratings from 2010, the state's roads are 18 percent "good," 47 percent "fair" and 35 percent "poor."

Olson and Schmidt, who was represented at the meeting by senior legislative aide Ed Kettle, hope for legislative action by the end of this year. Olson said bipartisan action would be necessary -- "“I don't ever remember running into a Democratic pothole or a Republican pothole,” he said -- but admits steadily declining gas-tax revenues present a major funding hurdle.

http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2011/09/state_lawmakers_propose_long-t.html