(WXYZ) — Michigan Department of Transportation Director Paul Ajegba spent several days in Washington D.C., asking officials for help with Michigan's infrastructure.
It comes after major flooding on freeways, and a massive tanker fire that damaged parts of I-75 that were newly built in Troy.
He suggested that the state might hire a university or consultant to do a "comprehensive study" and give the state an approach about how it can fix its infrastructure problems.
Ajegba pleaded his case for improving infrastructure funding and for help to correct flooding issues.
The area along I-94 is one of the biggest concerns. As we've seen, flash flooding left several vehicles, including semis. stranded. Ajegba said nearby pumps failed to work because they didn't have generators turned on when the power died.
"We never had the money to put generators on those pumps. So when this flooding happens we obviously had the PGA tour going on, all eyes were on our region and to see that was very disappointing to me," Ajegba said.
The tanker fire on I-75 in Troy left 600 feet of median wall damaged, another major project MDOT has on its hands.
"It's not just repairing the pavement surface, because beyond the pavement you've got to fix all that, you've got to practically dig out all the soil because the fuel seeped through and clean out all the ditches and drainage system," he said.
