A local lawmaker will host a town hall meeting tomorrow on roads and transportation.

Republican State Representative Ann Bollin of Brighton Township says she looks forward to sharing ideas with residents and welcomes their input and questions at the road funding town hall on Wednesday. Bollin says State Representative Jack O’Malley of Lake Ann who chairs the House Transportation Committee will also be in attendance. Bollin says Livingston County residents ask her about better road quality, the gas tax proposed by Governor Gretchen Whitmer, why Michigan doesn’t have toll roads and truck weights among others. She says O’Malley will present an overview of what his committee has been doing and they’ll share some solutions. Bollin said that the “people of Livingston County expect results on roads” and that she and her colleagues have a proposal “that invests record funding toward roads, without asking drivers to pay more at the pump.”

In June, Bollin proposed an amendment to the House’s transportation budget plan that would require the Michigan Department of Transportation to explore the feasibility of implementing tolls on Michigan roads. 35 other states charge tolls on some of their roads, and while Michigan has considered the concept before it has ultimately decided against it. Governor Whitmer has indicated that she would be willing to sign a continuing budget resolution to avoid a government shutdown if she and Republican leaders are unable to finalize a long-term road funding plan by October 1st. The GOP-led Legislature has not unveiled a promised alternative to Whitmer’s proposed 45-cents-per-gallon gas tax. Bollin’s town hall event will be held at the Genoa Township Hall on Dorr Road at 6:30pm. (JM)