MDOT announces transportation grants to villages and small cities for road repair
August 12, 2020 — Twenty-three villages and cities across the state with populations less than 10,000 will receive road funding grants awarded through the Community Service Infrastructure Fund (CSIF) program. Established by the state Legislature in 2018 and administered by the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT), the CSIF is a stop-gap program to help fund road projects in small communities. Successful projects were selected, in part, because they are paired with planned infrastructure work, coordinated with other road agencies, focused on extending the useful life of the road, and lacked other funding sources.
“These grants will help communities across the state get their roads fixed right now,” said Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. “This funding will help meet some of our most critical infrastructure needs at the community level. While this should not be viewed as a solution to our statewide road funding crisis, it will serve as a critical measure of relief for these communities until we implement a real transportation funding solution.”
Grant awards range from $30,000 to $250,000 for road resurfacing, culvert replacement, pavement crack sealing, and other preservation measures. The communities set to receive road funding grants include the cities of Corunna, Laingsburg, Perry, Vassar, Grant, Center Line, Rose City, Watervliet, Albion, Hartford, Iron River, and DeWitt, along with the villages of Bancroft, Fairgrove, Hopkins, Muir, Morley, Shelby, Boyne Falls, Centreville, Lawton, L’Anse, and Carleton. See www.Michigan.gov/TEDF for the project list and details.
Enacted in 1987 and reauthorized in 1993, the Transportation Economic Development Fund (TEDF) helps finance highway, road and street projects that are critical to the movement of people and products, and for getting workers to their jobs, materials to growers and manufacturers, and finished goods to consumers. TEDF “Category B,” or the “Community Service Infrastructure Fund,” grants provide $3 million per year through Fiscal Year 2023 to be allocated for road improvements in cities and villages with a population of 10,000 or fewer. More details about the individual grants and information about the program are available online at www.Michigan.gov/TEDF
