One day before an in-depth 13 Watchdog investigation is scheduled to air about our failing roads, the Michigan Department of Transportation released a list of roads that have fallen apart years before they were supposed to fail.
The list was generated by MDOT after we asked questions about concrete problems as part of an on-going investigation.
Our look at this issue started at M-6 in Kent and Ottawa counties between Wilson Avenue and I-196. That 3-mile stretch of road is only 12 years old, but it's need of total repair. Cracks have opened every 15 feet in the road for miles.
Concrete roads in Michigan are generally supposed to last 25-30 years before major rehabilitation. M-6 was finished in 2004 and now has to be redone.
Our investigation went beyond M-6. We found several highways built in the late 1990's are lasting well short of that figure.
MDOT on Wednesday, May 4, released a list of roads across the state that they are investigating for early failures.
According to MDOT, the list of roads below represents concrete projects with either known early joint distress or ones that may be showing symptoms of early joint distress similar to what is being observed on M-6:
- M-14 at I-94 near Ann Arbor
- I-69 in Eaton County
- I-96 at I-275 in Wayne County
- M-5 in Oakland County
MDOT's concrete expert John Staton said he was disappointed this is happening.
"I am a member of the motoring public and you are too and everyone else is and (MDOT) is not happy about it (the concrete problem)," Staton said.
MDOT is replacing that part of M-6 and also that section of U.S. 131 in northern Kent County during the next two years at a cost of $55 million. That's money that perhaps could have been put elsewhere instead of replacing roads that are living half their lives.
Tonight on WZZM 13 News at 6, we went below the surface on this investigation and we found the truth as to why these roads are falling apart. We'll tell you why a chemical mix-up is being considered the million dollar mistake.