This time of year we seem obsessed with potholes, often for
good reason. I just returned from a short shopping trip, and spent most of the
journey dodging about a dozen large cracks and crevasses in access roads and
the state highway that covered most of the route.
Yes, we can fear them. I couldn't avoid one giant, deep pothole
in a side street—cars were on either side of me as I turned onto the highway.
Even at 20 m.p.h., the impact made me think both front wheels had separated
from the car. Luckily, that didn't happen. However, a couple more jolts like
that and the old family sedan will face a trip to a service station for an
alignment, or worse, to straighten everything out. We had to do that last year
following pothole season.
Local media are featuring potholes. Cartoonists are making
fun of them in their creations. Potholes are very close (following comments
about continuing bad “spring” weather) to being the No. 1 conversation starter
when strangers meet.
The Governor of Michigan has proposed bold action. He wants
to increase gasoline taxes and vehicle registration fees to raise more than a billion
dollars earmarked for road and bridge reconstruction and repairs. At the rate
the public is bitching about the condition of our highways and byways, one
would think the Gov’s plan would carry the day with room to spare. Not so.
Led by conservative legislators in Gov. Snyder’s own
Republican Party, opponents of the proposal so far have succeeded in blocking
it. Some version may yet pass, but
anything that smells like a tax increase is going to face a rough road (pun
intended).
Recent opinion polls show a big majority of voters wants the
roads fixed, but many don’t want to pay one cent in increased taxes to do the
job. A number of trite sayings might apply here. “There’s no such thing as a
free lunch,” seems to fit as well as any.
