Mary:

The Road Commission for Oakland County, which has jurisdiction over this road, and the city of Rochester Hills, both agree the road needs to be resurfaced. Unfortunately, there simply is no funding available to do so.

As you may be aware, road funding in Michigan has been declining for a number of years. That means that road agencies in the state are less and less able to address/repair roads such as Crooks. In fact, we have many, many roads across Oakland County that SHOULD be resurfaced, but for which there is no money.

Over the past 10 years, our funding, derived primarily from the state-collected gas tax and vehicle registration fees (not your property taxes), has gone down 5 percent, while all the costs associated with maintaining roads have gone up dramatically (so we're living on 1998-era revenues with 2010 expenses). That means we are able to do far less work today than 10 years ago. In fact, we have 15 percent fewer employees than in 2007 -- that's a lot less bodies available to work on our roads.

Unfortunately, this situation is projected to get worse rather than better in coming years, as expenses continue to rise and revenues stagnate. That means that more and more roads in Oakland County will deteriorate into poor condition and the Road commission will not be able to do anything about it.

By the way, Michigan is worse off than most states in this regard. For at least the last 45 years, Michigan has been among the bottom nine states in the nation in per capita state & local spending on roads. That means that we in Michigan have been paying less to maintain our roads than the residents of nearly every other state for nearly 50 years -- and it shows. Unfortunately, you get what you pay for.

If you you share our concern about the deteriorating condition of Michigan's roads, please let your state legislator know. They are the ones who control the funding available for Michigan roads.

Thanks,
Road Commission for Oakland County