LANSING, Mich. — Would you be willing to pay higher taxes to get better roads--even if those roads are in someone else's neighborhood?
In Meridian Township, that's the debate currently happening over a street improvement bond that's going to be on the ballot Tuesday.
The city said the money will go toward fixing 147 miles of neighborhood streets--that doesn't include state or county roads.
The state roads not included in the street bond are Grand River Avenue and Saginaw Highway. The county roads not included are Hagadorn, Okemos, Dobie, Meridian, Hamilton, Park Lake, Marsh, Haslett, Lake Lansing and Lake Drive.
The focus will be on repaving neighborhood streets... Which meridian township manager frank Walsh says people mainly use anyway.
"Predominantly, if you look at 85 to 90% of the roads you drive on the community, 80-85 percent of those are neighborhood streets," Meridian Township Manager Frank Walsh said.
People who live in a private neighborhood will be responsible for paying for their own roads, plus the 147 miles of local roads.
Walsh says even if the state starts handing out more road money to local communities, it probably won't cover the amount Meridian Township needs.
"What we'll do is we know we'll need $3.5 million. We're not looking to double dip. We're not looking to take advantage of anyone," Walsh said.
Walsh says the current funding only allows for one to three miles of streets to be repaved per year.
People can vote on Aug. 6.
We took a look at who's contributing to the "vote yes" campaign called "residents to fix meridian roads." We found a local law firm, unions and an asphalt contractor were contributing.
As far as the "vote no" campaign, the clerk's office says there's no group registered in ingham county despite signs popping up in the area.
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