Road Commission Facts




The Allegan County Road Commission is a three member board who are appointed to six year terms elected by the county board, and by law are responsible for the operation of the Road Commission.

The Allegan County Road Commission is reponsible for a total of 1795 miles of roadway located within 24 townships. This total gives Allegan County the third highest total of roadway miles statewide. The breakdown is as follows: Of the total of 512 miles of primary roadway - 475 miles are paved, and 37 miles are gravel. Of the total of 1283 miles of local roadway - 601 miles are paved, and 682 miles are gravel. There are a total of 143 bridges (over 20 feet in length) of which 46 are on primary roadways, and 97 bridges on our local roadways.

There are also a total of 67 miles of seasonal roads located within the county. A portion of these roads are located within the State Game Area. They do not receive winter maintenance.

The Road Commission's Annual Budget in 2007 was $23,661,200. Of the total budget for 2007, $7,880,000 was generated from locally raised revenues. (This figure is second highest in the state)

The Road Commission employs 63 full time employees, and maintains an equipment fleet with a replacement value of over $8,000,000 that includes:

  • 57 Single & Tandem Axle trucks
  • 7 Graders
  • 3 Excavators
  • 3 Mowers
  • 5 Loaders
  • Miscellaneous cars, light trucks, and other equipment
The Road Commission has four separate maintenance garage locations within the county in:
  • Allegan
  • Fennville
  • Diamond Springs
  • Shelbyville

In addition to snow removal, grading of gravel roads, repair and maintenance of the county roadways, and placement and upkeep of all roadway signs, the Road Commission also has the responsibility of design, engineering, and contract administration of roadway improvements.

There were 10.49 miles of roadway constructed or re-constructed to present safety standards in 2007.
The scope of these projects included roadway grade changes (to improve sight distance), construction of proper roadway width, drainage improvements, removal of unsuitable soils from the roadway grade, placement of sand subbase, restoration (topsoil, seeding, and mulch), and placement of 6" of gravel in preparation for pavement surfacing.
There were 21.12 miles of primary roadways and 25.71 miles of local roadways paved or resurfaced for a total of 125,835.86 tons of hot mix asphalt placed during this fiscal year.