WEST BLOOMFIELD, Mich. (WXYZ) — Road conditions in metro Detroit drive so many people crazy, but what can be just as frustrating is finding a way to repair roads with little to no funding.
Teri Giannetti sent a letter to 7 News Detroit, asking us to look into the road in her subdivision in West Bloomfield. She wants the Road Commission for Oakland County to help fund the repairs, but the county tells me their hands are tied.
Watch Ali Hoxie's report below
“Help us, enough, enough," Giannetti said.
Giannetti said she is caring for a sick husband at home, with ambulances frequently coming to her home, and driving down Glen Eagles Drive.
“When the ambulance comes to get my husband, they’ve even said 'Teri do something,'" she told me, mimicking the bumping noise the cars make on the road.
She thinks that an uptick in traffic, including ambulances, school buses, and cars avoiding traffic on Pontiac Trail is continuing to ruin this road. She believes with the increased traffic, the county should help pay for a fix.
She believes with the increased traffic, the county should help pay for a fix.
“Give us something, just for good will," Giannetti said. "Even $1000, just goodwill."
I took Teri's concerns to the Road Commission for Oakland County, where I was told Teri and her community must start a Special Assessment District, or SAD, to help pay for the fix.
If approved, a SAD would mean property owners would have to pay a 10-year assessment in increased taxes.
“If 51 percent of the residents approve it, we will then do the work and assess the residents through a property tax assessment to pay for the project," said Craig Bryson with the Road Commission.
“What about the argument that this is no longer a subdivision street, that they are getting main thoroughfare traffic through their community?” I followed up with.
“I don’t doubt that they are getting some, and I sympathize with that argument, but it is still defined by law as a subdivision street," Bryson said. “And frankly we hear that from almost every subdivision that wants to do an SAD, there is always things that draw additional traffic into the subdivision other than just the owners.”
Bryson said the road commission gets about $11,000 per mile of subdivision road. He said that's not enough to keep up with maintenance, like pothole patching and snow plowing, let alone pay for costly fixes.
But there is some encouraging news.
“We are in the process of creating a way where the road commission will contribute to all SADs thanks to the new road funding that the legislature approved last year," Bryson told me.
Bryson said the Road Commission has not yet determined how much it will contribute, but that putting some money into the pot will help reduce some of the cost to residents interested in creating a SAD.
As for Teri's community, one of her neighbors sent me an email, saying the community is in the process of trying to get a SAD in their neighborhood, but it could take about a year.
“Sometimes you’ve got to, not break the rules, but you gotta bend them and reach and do something that’s good for everybody," Giannetti said.
I spoke to another neighbor off camera who did not want to be interviewed. She told me she doesn't want to pay more in taxes, and that the poor road conditions slow people down who speed through the neighborhood.
If you have a traffic concern or question you want me to look into, reach out to me on social media or email me at Ali.Hoxie@WXYZ.com.
