Gov. Rick Snyder issues executive directive calling for collaboration on infrastructure projects

Measure aims for more efficiency and effectiveness when updating water, sewer, road infrastructure

LANSING, Mich. – (RealEstateRama) — Gov. Rick Snyder called for increased collaboration between the Michigan Department of Transportation, local governments and utility companies when he issued an executive directive on statewide infrastructure projects.

“Modernizing Michigan’s aging infrastructure requires significant investment, and we can minimize costs and disruption by enhancing collaboration on planning and projects,” Snyder said. “This directive aims to identify those opportunities where we can upgrade water and sewer infrastructure at the same time roads and bridges are being done.”

Under the directive, the Director of the Michigan Department of Transportation is charged with improving the coordination of infrastructure installation, repair, or replacement in conjunction with road infrastructure reconstruction. To help achieve this, the Director of the Department of Transportation would:

• Work with the Director of the Department of Environmental Quality to identify locations where there are major critical infrastructure projects or projects where threats to water or wastewater services from inadequate facilities could occur, and coordinate efforts to address them.
• Work with the Chair of the Public Service Commission and the Executive Director of the Michigan Agency for Energy to identify any entities that are known to be planning major critical infrastructure projects or projects in rights of way, to coordinate efforts where possible.
• Work with the Michigan Utilities Coordinating Committee and the Transportation Asset Management Council to encourage local agencies and their design consultants to consider incorporating infrastructure installation, replacement or improvement projects into their road construction projects.
• Work with the 21^st Century Infrastructure Commission to identify opportunities for partnership, funding alternatives and coordination of infrastructure investment in conjunction with road reconstruction.
• Provide information on a public website about methods for local agencies, design consultants and contractors to use in coordinating road reconstruction projects with infrastructure installation, relocation or replacement.
• Identify best practices for coordination of road work and infrastructure installation, relocation and replacement employed by state departments of transportation across the U.S., in Canadian provinces, or recommended by technical experts.
• Research and test new and better methods to discover and locate underground infrastructure in partnership with the 21^st Century Infrastructure Commission.
• Coordinate with other regulatory agencies to maximize the efficient maintenance, modernization and protection of underground infrastructure.

The directive was first identified in Gov. Snyder’s 2016 State of the State address as one way for the state to more efficiently plan infrastructure upgrades. Executive Directive 2016-1 is available at www.michigan.gov/snyder.