Oh Jonathan, you're using your sensational, Fox-like headlines again. Tisk, tisk. The link lead to an article about COUNTY roads going to gravel. I didn't see a mention of Michigan CITIES going to gravel roads. All the same, whether on gravel or hardtop, we are being driven straight to hell in a handbasket regarding the economy.

Things are bad in Michigan, but..

You completely misread(or are purposefully misconstruing?) the article. With the exception of Kent County(Grand Rapids) and Muskegon, none of the counties mentioned have anything remotely approaching the status of city. The biggest towns in any given county mentioned are 10,000 people or less and most are probably under 5K.

This winter's freeze and thaw cycles have been especially brutal on our roads. And it's probably smart that their not going to repave anything until we know 'winter' is over. Michigan weather is notoriously unpredictable.(60+ on Christmas and freezing up to the end of April are not unheard of and haven't been for my 34 years) This may actually be a sign that our county governments are getting smarter. Wait for warm weather. There's a novel idea.

When Grand Rapids, Metro Detroit, and Lansing decide that gravel is the way to go, then you can create a stupid headline like this.

Wow. You guys are really missing the point. Those "little towns" are the canary in the coal mine. Couple that with the fact that Michigan is one of 4 states that spends more on corrections than education and, as a U-M Economist might say, "that is not trending in a favorable direction."

The point is so well made, Egalitaire, that it could stand on it's own feet without the untruthful headline.

I agree that saying "cities" are going back to gravel is a bit of a stretch, but the roads in Michigan are definitely a mess. The Citizens Research Council of Michigan found last month that Michigan's formula for road funding favors rural roads. If the rural roads are turning to gravel when the state allots a bigger budget for those roads, then it is not hard to imagine that the more metro parts of Michigan will go that way eventually unless something is fixed. Also, in 2006 USDOT found that MI has 20%+ rougher roads than OH, WI, and IN despite these states having fairly similar climates to MI. (MI actually ranked third nationwide for roughest roads - big surprise.) While weather certainly plays a role in roughening roads, the MI government has simply neglected to fund and maintain its roads properly. It's not a big shock since pretty much everything in this state is managed terribly.

Although, to add to Paul's point, Egalitare and I posted some facts and made a case for why the story is significant rather than just posting a link and a misleading headline.

Exactly. The economic climate in Michigan is bad. There is little doubt about that. But Jonathan lying about the article's contents doesn't help. It's alarmist B.S. and serves no purpose.

On a side note, I've driven through many 'small towns' in many of the counties mentioned and they are all paved.:p Deciding to hold off on repairing county backroads does not mean the system is imploding.

Rural routes often appear favored in budgets because there are more miles of them to maintain than in a city. Also, at least here in Virginia, most truckers use a combonation of interstates and smaller state roads to transport their loads, so keeping the flow of goods from city to city and even rural areas would seem to make sense regarding the budget.
Regarding Stein's questionable reporting, take a look at the post about why Obama has not received Edward's endorsement. It's pretty shaky.

And yes, anyone who drives around MI on a regular basis must concede that they are some of the worst in the nation. It's been that way as long as I can remember and changes should be made in all facets of our this states gov.