Nearly a third of Michigan roadways were in poor condition in 2008, according to a statewide transportation report released this week.
The report evaluated federal-aid eligible roads, which consist of most major thoroughfares in Michigan.
Keith Ledbetter, Director of Legislative Affairs for the Michigan Infrastructure and Transportation Association, said some of the worst roads are in the northern part of the state.
He says some of the worst roads are in the northern part of the state.
"Eight of the top 10 counties in the state, in terms of percentage of poor roads, was in northern Michigan or the UP," said Ledbetter.
Overall, 32 percent of federal aid eligible roads were in poor condition last year. That's up from 25 percent of roads in 2007.
According to Ledbetter, the picture gets even worse when local roads are factored in.
"Local roads are doing far worse than even on the federal aid system," he said. "And so, when we say that a community, for example, has 100 miles of bad road on the federal aid system, it probably means they have closer to 200 miles of bad roads."
Some of the state's worst roads are in Genesee County, where more than 1,200 miles of roads are in poor condition. Within Genesee County, Flint has 165 miles of roadway in poor condition. Mt. Morris Township has 114 miles of poor quality roads.
Some of the state's best roads are in northwest Michigan's Antrim County, where only 5 percent of roads are in poor condition.
The Michigan Infrastructure and Transportation Association estimates it would take $7.2 billion to bring all of the state's poor or fair quality roads up to good condition.
