Description
The section of Baldwin Road between Clintonville and to roughly 2/3 of the way to Baldwin is a major East West past for multiple subdivisions to the Baldwin Road corridor, Joslyn Road and Lapeer. On every event at Pine knob hundreds of cars per hour pass down Waldon. PLEASE PAVE THE ROAD!
42 Comments
Road Commission (Guest)
Eric:
I assume you mean Waldon Road and not Baldwin. The good news is this section of Waldon (Clintonville to Baldwin) is on the Road Commission for Oakland County's 30-year gravel road paving plan. The bad news is it is not expected to paved for at least the next several years, and probably for a number of years.
The Road Commission receives federal funding to pay for the majority of the cost of paving one mile of gravel road per year (so our 30-year plan identifies the top 30 gravel road segments targeted for paving). We have nearly 800 miles of gravel road under our jurisdiction. So, the fact that this road is on the 30-year plan puts it well ahead of the vast majority of other gravel roads. However, in order for a road to actually begin to move toward paving requires that the local community commit to share the local funding match requirement with the Road Commission. At this point, Independence Township has not indicated a desire to do this.
The fact that the road serves as a secondary route to and from Pine Knob Music Theater (DTE) does help to confirm the need for paving. However, this fact does not generate any money for the project.
We expect that at some point in the future, this road will be paved. However, I would not expect it to occur with the next five years or perhaps even the next 10 years.
Road Commission for Oakland County
Mark Watson (Guest)
Eric Kimminau (Guest)
Id also like to be able to go more than a day or two without having to get my car washed to remove all the crap off of it from driving on this.
Road Commission (Guest)
Eric and Mark:
Just to clarify the speed limit question: Speed limits on gravel roads are set in conjunction with the State Police and in accordance with state law. The state law, as amended in 2006, mandates that speed limits on gravel roads be set based on the number of access points (driveways, sidestreets, alleys, etc.) within a half-mile strech. It was because of this change in the state law that the State Police required the speed limit to be raised to comply with the new law.
Road Commission for Oakland County
Scott (Guest)
Road Commission (Guest)
Scott:
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA -- "stimulus" funds) have all been used. Additionally, this road did not qualify for the ARRA funds. The ARRA funds were only available for projects that were "shovel ready" -- in other words, they had to be ready to go immediately as of early 2009. That means we would have had to have the paving project designed and any necessary right of way purchased at that time. Since we do not have any funding for this project, we have designed it or purchased any needed right of way.
Road Commission for Oakland County
Mike (Guest)
Pave this road or at least take care of it appropriately. The potholes are out of control (again) and it makes it especially dangerous since cars veer to avoid and may potentially cause accidents. It's ridiculous that this road has not yet been paved. Embarrassing.
Mike
Road Commission (Guest)
Mike:
The Road Commission receives only $1.5 million per year in funding that can be used to pave gravel roads (keep in mind we do NOT receive any of your propery tax revenues; we are funded through the state & federal gas tax and the vehicle registration fees). It costs $1.5 million to pave a single mile of gravel road. We have nearly 800 miles of gravel roads under our jurisdiction. As a result we have prioritized our gravel road paving based on traffic volume, continuity of route, and other factors.
Additionally, because our revenues have now been falling for years, we have had to reduce our staff by 20 percent in the last three years. That means many fewer employees available to grade gravel roads. Unfortunately, the situation is likely to get worse before it gets better, as road funding is projected to continue to decline.
Eric Kimminau (Guest)
What do we have to do to request a vehicle traffic audit for the section of road between the entrance to the Montclair subdivision on Waldon Road and Baldwin?
Isn't there a threshold where when cars per hour exceeds a threshhold it should be prioritized for pavement?
Waldon has become a major East West route between Lapeer and Sashabaw and is constantly used by heavy 18 wheelers to bypass the weigh station on 75. During spring-fall I have even seen double trailer gravel trucks and regularly see 18 wheelers driving down Waldon road.
As the cost of gas goes up (almost $4.00/gal now) the doesnt the percentage of funds raised by taxing gasoline also increase or is it fixed cost per gallon?
Road Commission (Guest)
Eric:
Great questions. First -- NO! The gas tax revenue does NOT go up when gas prices go up. In fact it goes DOWN!
Here's why: The gas tax is a flat rate (19 cents per gallon). It is NOT a percentage of the price. It doesn't matter if gas is 50 cents per gallon or $5 per gallon, the gas tax is ALWAYS 19 cents. So, when the price of gas goes up, people drive less and, therefore, gas tax revenues go down.
Michigan does apply its sales tax to gas, which IS a percentage (6%), but NONE of the revenue from the sales tax goes to roads. It goes to schools, communities and the state's general fund.
Secondly, you asked about traffic volume and a threshold for paving. Yes, there are engineering guiedlines that suggest when a road caries more than about 500 cars per day, it should be paved. However, there is NO funding for paving gravel roads as a result of this engineering guideline. In fact, many Oakland County gravel roads carry far more traffic than that.
However, the reality remains, regardless of how much traffic our gravel roads carry, we receive only enough funding each year to pave one mile of gravel roads.
The good news is we have prioritized our gravel roads and identified the 30 top roads that we expect to be paved over the next thirty years -- and this sectionof Waldon is on the list. It will not be paved within the next several years, but it is at least on the list.
- Road Commission for Oakland County
Eric Kimminau (Guest)
Ryan LaForge (Guest)
Mike (Guest)
Ryan LaForge (Guest)
Eric Kimminau (Registered User)
Eric Kimminau (Registered User)
Eric Kimminau (Registered User)
Eric Kimminau (Registered User)
Eric Kimminau (Registered User)
Eric Kimminau (Guest)
When will Waldon be paved?
Eric Kimminau (Registered User)
Mike (Guest)
We had to replace a wheel bearing due to premature wear attributed to the consistently terrible conditions of this road.
Paving this road would be nice...
Eric Kimminau (Registered User)
Road Commission for Oakland County (Registered User)
Eric:
We do not now, nor have we ever had a "10 Year Plan." There was not a 10-year plan in 2002, and there were no specific plans or funding to pave Waldon then as now. As we noted in 2010, Waldon is, in fact, on our 30 Year Gravel Road Paving Plan. But, all the points we noted in 2010 above remain true.
- Road Commission for Oakland County
Ryan LaForge (Registered User)
Road Commission for Oakland County (Registered User)
Ryan: It is frustrating to us as well, however, as noted above, we receive $1.5 million per year for gravel road paving, and that's less than enough to pave one mile of gravel road. We have 777 miles of gravel road in our system. Currently, no funding is designated for this section of Waldon Road, therefore, there is no schedule. However, also as noted, it is included in the list of roads we hope to pave within the next 30 years.
- Road Commission for Oakland County
Ryan LaForge (Registered User)
Mike (Guest)
I'm assuming the 30 year plan has various road sections prioritized according to some engineering guidelines. Where does this segment rank in relation to the other road sections? Top 5? Bottom half?
What, if anything, is being done to increase funding for gravel road paving? Is it a priority?
Eric Kimminau (Registered User)
Eric Kimminau (Registered User)
What do we have to do to request a vehicle traffic audit for the section of road between the entrance to the Montclair subdivision on Waldon Road and Baldwin?
Isn't there a threshold where when cars per hour exceeds a threshhold it should be prioritized for pavement?
Waldon has become a major East West route between Lapeer and Sashabaw and is constantly used by heavy 18 wheelers to bypass the weigh station on 75. During spring-fall I have even seen double trailer gravel trucks and regularly see 18 wheelers driving down Waldon road.
Ryan LaForge (Registered User)
steve michigan (Registered User)
Chad Goss (Registered User)
Mike_LO (Registered User)
Mike_LO (Registered User)
Eric Kimminau (Registered User)
Eric Kimminau (Registered User)
This will be the 4th time I have asked this question without a single response.
What do we have to do to request a vehicle traffic audit for the section of road between Waldon Road and Baldwin?
Isn't there a threshold where when cars per hour exceeds a threshhold it should be prioritized for pavement?
Waldon has become a major East West route between Lapeer and Sashabaw and is constantly used by heavy 18 wheelers to bypass the weigh station on 75. During spring-fall I have even seen double trailer gravel trucks and regularly see 18 wheelers driving down Waldon road.
There are numerous trees flagged with pink X's and ribbons. The washboarding is now ditch to ditch and 6+ inches deep. The entrance to Montclair is so bad I have to drive over to the entrance side to get around the 10" deep chuck holes.
Please, pave the road!
Mike (Registered User)
display_name (Registered User)
Eric Kimminau (Registered User)
Eric Kimminau (Registered User)
Eric Kimminau (Registered User)