Suddenly it seems as if we need to have an inflatable raft in our trunk when we tool down our local freeways.
Lauren Abdel-Razzaq and Tom Greenwood of the Detroit News report that state highway officials say flooding on our local freeways could become more common because of a variety of reasons. On Tuesday, some freeways flooded for the third time this month.
The News writes:
"We’re always putting Band-Aids on what needs surgery,” MDOT spokeswoman Diane Cross said Wednesday. “We are piecemeal keeping our roads together. This is an example of what happens with that.”
The roads and supporting structures are aging; soil, plants and road debris have washed into and blocked drains, meaning flooding could become more common, she said. Furthermore, MDOT says 58 percent of freeway pump houses are in poor condition, which added to the difficulty of keeping below-grade highways free of massive ponds.
“We just need to realize that the freeways themselves are old and they aren’t designed to today’s standards, which include more storm drains, bigger storm drains, sloping sides that don’t allow soil and erosion into the roadway and drains,” Cross said.
Unfortunately, things don't look so bright at the moment, the News reports.
The paper writes that MDOT employees are assessing catch basin drains, pumps and road conditions.
But there's a problem: They don't have adequate money to fix them.
