County can't afford its crumbling bridges
Mary Langell used to take the St. Clair Highway through China Township to work and visit family, but a closed bridge over the Belle River has stymied her regular route.
Langell, who lives within eye’s shot of the closure barricades, said she has to add several miles on the road.
“Like I work at the postal office on King Road … and my parents live on Allington Road. That was just straight and then, there,” she said, motioning to the left toward Allington Road east across the river. “Now I have to drive all the way around.”
St. Clair County Road Commission officials said the St. Clair Highway bridge is one of three closed in the county but not currently under construction. It is closed because it is not safe.
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It’s also a fate they fear could befall more bridges because there isn't money for repairs or replacement of critical bridges.
Within just the next decade, officials are anticipating $39.8 million in primary bridge construction needs.
The county’s primary bridges are 95 percent federally funded and make up just one-third of its total bridge count of well more than 200.
Over the last six years, the road commission averaged $1.5 million a year in federal funding, but would require just under $4 million without state and federal funding.
“Keep in mind that’s only on the primary,” said Kirk Weston, managing director at the road commission. “You might as well double that if you look at it countywide.”
The St. Clair Highway bridge has been closed for about a month, Weston said. To Langell, it seems much longer.
Weston said the bridge on Dunning Road over a south branch of the Pine River in Wales Township was closed more recently, and the one on Jeddo Road over Mill Creek was closed in Brockway Township last spring.
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Weston said keeping them open wasn’t worth the safety risks.
Officials aren’t sure how long they’ll have to be closed or which of the “most critical bridges” may be next.
Critical bridges, those on the county priority list, include structures on Meisner, Palms and King roads, and three on the Marine City Highway over the Teltow, Meldrum and Casco drains.
Mike Clark, county highway and bridge engineer, said all the Marine City Highway bridges were built with the road in the mid-1940s, and Weston said they’re “all coming home to roost,” citing aging as the biggest factor in the deteriorating state of St. Clair County bridge infrastructure.
“We’re looking at ways to fund at least one of those three right now, and get that posting off,” Weston said. “Why is that important? Because that’s probably our heaviest commercial route we have in the county that’s not (owned by) MDOT.”
And without the bridges, the highway is “instantly closed for commercial traffic.”
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According to the Michigan Department of Transportation, inspections of most bridges based on type and level of deterioration are required every two years.
Clark said the county inspects its more than 200 bridges every other year, but critical ones are checked as often as every three months.
To keep them from open, weight limits are imposed and patched and reinforcements added. But that only goes so far.
“So we’re tracking the deterioration, and then we do structural calculations to see what the load capacity is of each structure, and as it gets lower and lower, you get the postings,” Clark said. “Then, they get smaller and smaller. With a certain tonnage, you get to a certain point where for safety reasons, you have to close them.”
Clark said, with the county’s existing budget and $1.5 million average in federal aid, “There’s just not enough there to take care of the need.”
Replacing the Marine City Highway bridges would cost a combined $3.6 million, according to the county’s 10-year projections.
Meisner Road would cost $2.6 million. That bridge is on the 2019 application list for funding.
Clark said funds are applied for three years in advance, and that aid is divvied up based on region. He sits on the metro regional bridge council, which helps make those decisions locally.
The council next meets Sept. 28. Being considered for 2019 is more than $32 million worth of bridge projects in Wayne, St. Clair, Macomb and Oakland counties. The three-year average funding amount for the region is $8.35 million, leaving a $32.1 million of unfunded need.
On the list for St. Clair County in addition to Meisner are replacing bridges on Flamingo and Richman roads, rehabilitating one on Jeddo Road and replacing a non-critical bridge on Marine City Highway.
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Weston said St. Clair county is second in the state only to Wayne County in the number of bridges it has.
Last spring, road commission staff recommended new transportation revenue be directed to the county’s primary bridge system. The county is expected to receive $2.75 million next year from the motor fuel tax, and $500,000 was recommended to be put toward bridges.
It was also recommended that the expected $923,140, $983,803 and $1.1 million in revenue for the following three years also be put toward primary bridges.
If federal and state aid remained consistent, the county would need $2.4 million in that time to help keep up.
But even with the funds projected from various sources in the coming years, Weston said, there’s never a guarantee those funds will come.
Funding “local bridges,” which make up the other two thirds in St. Clair County, is an easier process for the road commission, however, as they are much smaller structure and the cost is split with local townships.
While officials juggle funding and bridge decisions, local residents continue to deal with current closures.
“It’s been a huge inconvenience,” Langell said of the St. Clair Highway bridge closure. Others in the area agree on that front.
That two-span bridge’s high beams have slowly corroded from salt leaking through its top, and Clark said there’s not enough steel left to hold the weight of traffic any more.
“It comes down, we measure it, we rate it, we post it, but what happens when it gets too low?” he said. “It may be safe enough for a car to cross, but what happens when a truck (comes) and it gets lost?”
Langell said she understands the danger, but wishes the road commission would reallocate funds to fix the bridge once and for all — even if it means taking funds from regular road work and maintenance.
Down the highway in Adair, the aging Palms Road bridge, among the county’s top six more critical in need of replacement, also borders one of the more busy rural intersections in St. Clair County.
A party store sits just west of Palms, and a couple doors down is the Adair Bar, where a few contemplated the plight of infrastructure priorities on Friday.
Janet and Eddie Higgins, of Columbus Township, disagree with Langell’s logic and said they understand the county’s priorities: Factoring in aid for bridges and leaving other funds for regular projects.
“I feel like it’s something we just have to put up with because some of these bridges are probably at most beyond repair and are just a danger,” Janet said. “So I would lean more toward safety.”
Still, Eddie added, “Most of the bridges were built in the ‘30s. It’s past due.”
Kathy and Bruce Amo are from Chesterfield, but come up every few months. They were in St. Clair County for dinner Friday, and noticed bridge closures.
“They need to figure something out so you can make your way around,” Kathy said.
Bruce added, “I definitely feel for the people around here.”
Contact Jackie Smith at (810) 989-6270 or jssmith@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @Jackie20Smith.
SIX HIGHEST PRIORITY BRIDGES FOR REPLACEMENT
Marine City Highway over Teltow Drain — $969,000
Marine City Highway over Meldrum Drain — $1.2 million
Marine City Highway over Casco Drain — $1.4 million
King Road over Belle River —$1.6 million
Meisner Road over Belle River —$2.6 million
Palms Road over Belle River — $1.7 million