LANSING, Michigan – A bill to require local road agencies to annually certify that they are in compliance with several “best practices” as a condition of receiving future funding is scheduled for a House Transportation Committee hearing on Wednesday February 8 at 12pm. HB 5302 would require that beginning September 30, 2014, each local road agency must annually certify to MDOT that it satisfies all of the following:

– Must be in compliance with PA 152, the public funded health insurance act of 2011. 
– Provide defined contribution plans for new employees. 
– Have adopted and are acting under a road safety plan designed to ensure uniform high safety standards on all roads that requires local road agencies to do  the following:
– Tabulate the location and causation of traffic accidents.
– Review warrants and traffic control orders for all traffic control devices erected on its roads at least every 7 years and remove all unwarranted devices.
– Review and adjust the timing of signal devices on its roads to reflect traffic volumes and actual operating speeds at least every 5 years. 
– Conduct a multidisciplinary road safety audit of each project over $1,000,000 and of each high accident location.
– Employ or contract for the services of a licensed traffic engineer.

According to the bill, if the local road agency does not certify to the conditions above, MDOT is to withhold funding for the period of noncompliance. Additonally the bill requires each local road agency to develop and implement an accountability dashboard.

The League has some serious concerns about this bill and will be testifying on the bill. Please contact Jason Mancini in the Lansing office if you would like to testify or would like to submit testimony on HB 5302.

Jason Mancini works for the Michigan Municipal League handling transportation issues. He can be reached at 517-908-0303 or by email at [email protected].