State provides funding to fix roads in local cities, villages
LANSING – Today, Governor Gretchen Whitmer announced 47 villages and cities across the state with populations less than 10,000 will receive road funding grants totaling $8 million, awarded through the Community Service Infrastructure Fund (CSIF) Category B program. Established by the state Legislature in 2018, the CSIF is administered by the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) and serves as a stop-gap program to help fund road projects in small communities. Successful projects were selected, in part, because they were paired with planned infrastructure work, coordinated with other road agencies, focused on extending the useful life of the road, and had limited funding sources for road improvements.
Grant awards range from $46,000 to $250,000 for road resurfacing, culvert replacement, pavement crack sealing, preventative maintenance, and ancillary stormwater management measures. More details about the 2024 approved project grants and information about the CSIF Category B program are available online.
The City of Hancock has been awarded $237,000 for work on Minnesota Street, and $142,000 for work on North and Prospect Streets. The City of Houghton has been awarded $161,000 for work on West Lakeshore Drive. The Village of Ontonagon was awarded $100,000 for work on Michigan Street.
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," was enacted in 2018 and provided $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. In 2023, legislators approved a supplemental appropriation in the amount of $25 million to be granted over three years.
For the FY2024 program, applications were received totaling $20 million in requests. The recommended grants, totaling $8 million will be matched with $13 million (61 percent) in other funds committed by local agencies.
