More snow may be headed our way but you may be waiting a while to see all of those northern Michigan roads clear. Some area road commissions are blaming the budget and new state requirements for the hold up.
More snow may be headed our way but you may be waiting a while to see all of those northern Michigan roads clear. Some area road commissions are blaming the budget and new state requirements for the hold up.
With costs piling up along with the snow, some area roads are taking a back seat when it comes to plowing them. "We might not be cleaning up the intersection cleaning up the turn area the turnarounds or widening out but it will be an in and out process," said Benzie County Road Commission Manager Bob Weaver.
New state maintenance requirements have turned more main roads into a second priority. And in Benzie County the Road Commission Manager says with all of the recent snowfall maintenance on those roads are getting stretched to it's limit along with their budget.
"We're 9 employees short from what we were 3 years ago, I had to hire 6 seasonal employees just to have enough to plow the roads that's how the budget has regressed in the last 3 years I've cut my budget 3%, then 4%, and 5%," said Weaver.
He says they're more than $30,000 over budget just for the month of November. He says adds up to less overtime for clean up which means local roads will have to wait until their even touched with a snow plow.
And driving along roads in Grand Traverse County the Road Commission Manager says you'll be able to tell where they're cutting back.
"Subdivisions are where you'll start to see our budget restrictions you'll start to see a longer wait because we don't go into subdivisions on overtime until we receive 6 inches or more but the other constraint is do we actually have enough workers who can work overtime," said Grand Traverse County Road Commission Manager Mary Gillis.
That's why managers are warning drivers to steer clear of the roads during nights and weekends they say that's when you'll see fewer plows.
