By Rick Pluta, Michigan Public Radio Network
East Lansing, MI – East Lansing, MI (MPRN) - A report by a group of civil engineers says Michigan needs to spend more to fix and upgrade its roads, bridges, waterworks, and electric grid.
Transportation and water systems got particularly low marks from the Michigan chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers.
Kirk Steidle, director of the Michigan Department of Transportation, agrees with the findings.
"What I find most troubling about this, and this is not the first year the scores have come out this low," he says. "The national reports have been coming out for years and the grades continue to get lower and lower and lower. And we've had little action to solve the problem and if we don't solve the problem we are only hurting ourselves in the long run."
Steidle says other states are also struggling to maintain and improve their infrastructure.
But he says Michigan is running a little behind the national average.
The report also says Michigan is in trouble because it does not have light rail systems serving population centers in southeast and western Michigan.