By ERIC S. WILSON
Special to The Oakland Press

Lately there has been a lot of news coverage of the fact the Road Commission for Oakland County (RCOC) and other road agencies in Michigan have reduced the frequency of grass mowing along some roads. Based on the feedback I’ve received on this topic, though, it’s clear that many people don’t realize that RCOC and other road agencies are taking this step not because we want to, but because we have been forced to re-allocate our scarce revenue to safety-related activities.

I appreciate the impact a well groomed road system has on the residents of and visitors to a community. Because of that, in the past we have always done everything possible to keep up the appearance of our roads.

However, things are different today. Due to years of declining revenue and dramatically increasing operational and materials costs, we can no longer afford to properly maintain our road system. Consider, for example, that in 2009, we will receive less revenue than we did in 1999, and yet over the last decade, all of the costs of maintaining a road system have gone up dramatically.

There is no question we must cut some of the services we provide. This is particularly frustrating for us, because we have run a very lean operation for many years.

RCOC has spent years implementing efficiencies and streamlining our services, privatizing some when there is a good business case to do so. We have reduced staffing levels by 12 percent over the last two years (RCOC is down 68 employees), and we have greatly improved our efficiency through the use of new technologies.

Given this reality, we are forced today to make tough decisions about how we allocate our resources. The top priority in deciding where we will spend our scarce dollars is, and must be, safety, safety, safety.

It would be irresponsible of us to continue to provide aesthetic maintenance services, such as frequent mowing of the grass along our roads, while reducing services that ensure motorist safety, such as pothole patching, snowplowing, salting, traffic signal repairs, etc.

That doesn’t mean we aren’t always looking for new ways to save money or improve efficiency. For example, we learned recently about a program in South Dakota, where farmers mow the slopes along some freeways in exchange for being able to keep the hay they harvest from those public spaces. While this would not work in urbanized areas such as Oakland County, it is an innovative idea that may work in other parts of the state.

The reality, though, is that without additional funding, we will have to continue to make cuts, cuts that we would rather not make.

In fact, we project that in 2012, we will no longer be able to afford the required local match needed to access federal road funds to which we are entitled.

That means we’ll have to return those dollars. Not only will we have to cancel the road improvement projects those dollars would have funded, but, adding insult to injury, it’s likely those funds will be used in some other state.

That’s particularly frustrating since those are dollars that were generated by Michigan taxpayers. (Our status as a donor state and county must change. I hope our elected officials in Washington and Lansing focus on promoting Michigan.)

With Congress beginning to work on the new federal transportation-funding bill, Michigan’s donor status must be eliminated NOW.

So, until road funding is increased in Michigan, unfortunately, we’re going to have to learn to live with taller grass than any of us would like along some of our roads and potentially many other cuts to road related services.

Eric S. Wilson is vice chairman of the Road Commission for Oakland County