Gary Peters Brings Together National, Local Leaders to Address Michigan's Infrastructure

Press Release

Gary Peters Brings Together National, Local Leaders to Address Michigan's Infrastructure

Congressional candidate Gary Peters brought together a group of national and local leaders, including Congressman Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), for a roundtable discussion today in Troy to address the serious challenges facing Michigan's infrastructure.

"Rebuilding Michigan's economy and reinvesting in our infrastructure go hand in hand," said Gary Peters, a fifth-generation Oakland County native. "While the Bush Administration and Congressman Knollenberg continue to spend $10 billion every month in Iraq, and while China is expanding at an unprecedented rate, back here in Michigan, our roads, bridges, and power grid are falling into disrepair. We must take action now to create the twenty-first century infrastructure that we need to build a twenty-first century economy here in Michigan, and in Congress, that is what I will do."

Congressman Earl Blumenauer, a national leader on issues of development, planning, and infrastructure, traveled to Michigan to take part in the forum and to support Gary Peters' campaign for Congress.

"Michigan started the industrial revolution, and the struggles that you are facing in terms of your economy are what the rest of America will be facing soon," said Congressman Earl Blumenauer. "We are losing an international challenge with respect to infrastructure. We still have more and better infrastructure than anyone in the world, but the quality is in serious decline, and Gary Peters is absolutely right that we must take action now to invest in our infrastructure."

According to a May 2008 report from the Michigan Department of Transportation, there are currently over 40 bridges in Oakland County that are rated Structurally Deficient. A recent study from the Texas Transportation Institute estimates that bad roads cost the average driver in the Metro-Detroit area $1,671 every year.

The panel of experts and leaders joining Peters and Blumenauer included: Dr. Kenneth Boyer, a professor of transportation economics at Michigan State University, George Manoogian of the Utility Workers Union, Oakland County Commissioner Tim Greimel, Ed Noyola of the County Road Association of Michigan, Tim Lalonde of the St. Clair County Road Commission, and Michigan Representative Marie Donigan.

Oakland County Commissioner Tim Greimel said: "It's clear that our existing Representative in Congress, despite his position on the transportation appropriations committee, is simply not getting the job done. I think crisis is the right word for the problems we're facing. Our infrastructure is in bad shape and getting worse."

Tim LaLonde, a St. Clair County Road Commissioner and officer with the Operating Engineers Union said: "You talk about a bridge to nowhere, how about a bridge you can't get to? That's what we're up against. We're at a crisis in terms of revenues. Counties across Michigan are so short on resources that they're starting to convert asphalt roads to gravel because they can't afford to maintain them."

George Manoogian, Director of Strategic Planning for the Utility Workers Union, addressed concerns with Michigan's aging power grid. "The power grid itself is not something that just connects the utilities with each other - it's the wires that connect the power to your house. These lines were built in the 20th century, and they're not capable of handling the load for the 21st century. We need to start today to ensure that the grid can handle the load of the future, not wait until it falls down."

Dr. Ken Boyer, a professor of economics at Michigan State University, said: "Michigan's urban roads are terrible, and it's clear that funding infrastructure with fuel taxes is increasingly untenable. As we shift to more fuel efficient vehicles, that revenue is going to disappear. The federal government needs to start thinking now to develop an entirely new model to fund infrastructure."

Michigan Representative Marie Donigan, who serves on the Transportation Committee and is the Chairwoman of the Public Transit subcommittee, called for increased investment in public transportation systems: "We have to have a modern public transportation system if we're going to have the kind of economic recovery we need. Demand is up, ridership is up, but funding for public transit is down on both a federal and state level."

Ed Noyola, Deputy Director of the County Road Association of Michigan, said: "With resources declining, we've done everything we possibly can do - delaying projects, not purchasing equipment, not filling positions, but now we're at the point of laying off employees. That will have an impact on how you get to work, how your kids get to school, how businesses react - that's just a reality of the situation we're in. We need to stimulate Michigan's economy, create jobs, maintain jobs, and boost our economy, and that's going to benefit all of us at the end of the day."

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