Michigan hasn’t met its road quality goal -- set at 90% of roads in good or fair condition -- in 14 years.
Such was the case again in 2022 when 67% of assessed federal-aid roads qualified as good or fair, according to the Michigan Transportation Asset Management Council’s annual report. Last year’s grades were, however, an improvement from 2020, when 57.6% of roads met that mark.
Grades are handed out to both federal-aid and local roads using the Pavement Surface Evaluation and Rating (PASER) system. Federal-aid roads, which include interstates, highways and county primary roads, must be evaluated at least once every two years.
Roads are rated on a scale of 1 to 10. Roads rated 8 to 10 are considered “good,” while roads rated 5 to 7 are “fair” and roads with a rating of 1 to 4 are “poor.”
Below you’ll find a map that includes the latest road grades from Michigan’s Transportation Asset Management Council. Zoom in to see the latest road ratings in your area. Hover over a road to see its PASER rating, number of lanes, and surface type. Zooming into a location will increase the size of the space between roads, making identifying the city or township easier.
Can’t see the map? Click here.
For the last 20 years, TAMC has regularly evaluated Michigan’s federal-aid roads, which account for about one-third of Michigan’s roads -- about 90,000 miles -- and carry more than 95% of traffic.
The 2022 report used new evaluations for about 60% of federal-aid road miles, and filled in 2021 data for the remaining 40%. About 25% of those miles were in “good” shape, while 42% were “fair” and 33% were “poor.”
Related: Michigan gets poor grades for drinking water, roads and energy in 2023
Road agencies also look at the more than 165,000 miles of non-federal-aid roads, or local roads, though they are optional to evaluate. In 2022, agencies graded 26,090 of those roads, which was the most in a single year. Of those miles, 45% were in poor shape, 35% were fair, and 20% were good.
Looking to the future, TAMC forecasts only 19% of federal-aid roads will be in good condition by 2034, while 33% will be fair and 48% will be poor. Projected worsening of roads is due to increases in costly reconstruction projects. More expensive fixes means less pavement being improved.
“This indicates that without additional investment for bridge programs additional bridges will be at high risk and lead to more emergency repairs and closures,” the report says.
Consultants have estimated that Michigan is underfunding its road system by $3.9 billion annually. Some of their proposed options to increase revenue include increasing the gas tax, increasing sales tax on gas, assessing a per mile fee for vehicles, and installing tolls.
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