Hoekstra Raises Questions about Piles of Dirt on a Recently Constructed Section of I-75
Congressman Sends Letter to MDOT Requesting Answers to Several Questions
Washington,
Jul 7, 2009 -
U.S. Rep. Pete Hoekstra, R-Holland, today sent a letter to the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) questioning why it placed thousands of tons of dirt on a newly constructed service drive designed to provide a new I-75 freeway link leading to the Ambassador Bridge in Detroit.
"In light of the federal taxpayer dollars spent toward funding MDOT, and particularly considering the pending $80 billion transportation budget shortfalls, more information on this matter is necessary," Hoekstra wrote after visiting Detroit to examine border and transportation issues when the situation was brought to his attention.
"If the freeway link is ready, just open it," Hoekstra said. "It will save truckers and Detroit motorists time, money and fuel."
Hoekstra posed several questions to MDOT, including why the dirt was dumped on the site, how much it cost to dump it there and then move it, how much money will be spent on preparing or repairing the service drive for traffic and why a less intrusive barrier such as traffic barrels weren’t used.
"Michigan continues to struggle through a nearly decade-long recession," Hoekstra said. "Yet the state has now built a fence to protect turtles from oncoming traffic in Muskegon, remodeled a rest area along I-196 between Holland and Grand Rapids and is now piling and removing dirt on the I-75 freeway link to the Ambassador Bridge. We need to better allocate state resources and reform how Lansing prioritizes projects."
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CLICK HERE to read a copy of the letter.
