Good morning MDOTers! As we all know, this winter has been a particularly brutal one for Michigan. Now were starting to see just how much it is affecting the bottom line. Salt usage: - October - December 2011 = 76,520 tons - October - December 2012 = 99,315 tons - October - December 2013 = 228,686 tons (130% increase from last year - even with a few counties still gathering info) Salt costs: - October - December 2011 = $1.9 million - October - December 2012 = $2.5 million - October - December 2013 = $5.7 million (123% increase from last year) Liquid usage: - October - December 2011 = 325,170 gallons - October - December 2012 = 341,135 gallons - October - December 2013 = 904,559 gallons (165% increase from last year) Sand usage: - October - December 2011 = 10,910 tons - October - December 2012 = 10,885 tons - October - December 2013 = 44,600 tons (310% increase from last year) If you notice, the current year numbers are only through this past December. The major storms weve dealt with in January arent even figured into these amounts :( What does this mean overall? Well, winter maintenance (plowing, salting, etc.) and summer maintenance (mowing, clearing trash & debris) come from the same portion of MDOTs budget. This means that the more spent on winter maintenance, the less money will be available for summer road maintenance. Safety is always the top priority, so if tall grass along a highway is posing a safety problem this summer then it will be dealt with, no matter what. However, if the tall grass is simply unattractive, then it may not be mowed as quickly as normal due to limited funding. Unfortunately, thats just how much of an impact this tough winter is going to have on Michigan for the entire year.
Posted on: Fri, 07 Feb 2014 15:05:24 +0000
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