EMPIRE, MI (AP)-- Scenic turnouts and roadside parks along Michigan roadways are in need for maintenance as officials say other projects take funding priority.
The Michigan Department of Transportation's Sleeping Bear Dunes Scenic Turnout has a sign, a parking lot and two picnic tables. The Detroit Free Press reports it also has a tangle of bushes, weeds and trees that block views Lake Michigan or the dunes.
Lynn Lynwood, roadside development program manager for MDOT, says "these rustic facilities compete for scraps. There is no dedicated budget to maintain, let alone, improve them."
MDOT says half of the scenic turnouts in Michigan need vegetation removed in the viewing area. The newspaper reports, however, that 90 percent of turnouts and roadside parks need work on deteriorating toilet facilities, wells, signs and buildings.
