Nik Rajkovic / news@whmi.com

How to fund Michigan road construction? That's the question in Lansing, where state lawmakers and transportation officials are considering everything from a mileage tax to toll roads.

"One of the things we want to do is bring up the roads and bridges to at or above performance standards before you start tolling on them," says Ron Davis, project manager with HTNB, the firm hired to study possible tolling.

"Be it I-96 or other segments around the state, if they were to start tolling, you do the work first and then gradually implement tolling over time, under the model we studied."

Davis says the study did not assume you would turn tolling on across the state all at once.

He told lawmakers last week that a six cent-per-mile toll on passenger cars and additional charges for trucks could maintain a toll system in Michigan, while freeing up existing funds for other uses and offsetting projected declines in gas tax revenue due to electric vehicles.

"The needs are great. If you look at some of the most expensive assets around the state. Bridges. Roads like I-94 often came up in our outreach with certain stakeholders as being an important road," Davis told WHMI News.

"It's very compelling to start thinking about having a dedicated revenue stream for those very important assets that really drive our economy in Michigan."

However, Davis says there's no guarantee a consensus will be reached in Lansing anytime soon.