Governor Gretchen Whitmer will be part of a panel testifying Wednesday before a U.S. Senate committee on infrastructure and climate change.
Jeff Cranson is with the Michigan Department of Transportation.
He says the governor will mention the failures last year of two dams in Midland and Gladwin counties.That contributed to massive flooding that displaced thousands of people, and washed away roads.
“We’ve got to think about tremendous weather events like the flooding last year in Midland and Gladwin counties that destroyed bridges and dams, and so she’s going to talk about that, and long term there’s going to have to be an answer to sustaining that kind of infrastructure as we know the climate’s going to continue to change,” he says.
Cranson said building sustainable infrastructure is expensive and Whitmer will bring up her efforts to come up with a source of funding for road and bridge repairs.
“We’re already struggling as a state to invest enough in our roads and bridges and trying to anticipate high water and flooding events puts more of a burden on that funding," says Cranson.
Republican Governor Larry Hogan of Maryland will be on the same panel.
Want to support reporting like this? Consider making a gift to Michigan Radio today.
