State-Local Balance

Although all DOTs share responsibilities with regional and local entities to some extent, they also vary in terms of the balance between state and local roles. Michigan provides an example of a highly devolved transportation system: 616 separate local road agencies have jurisdiction over 92 percent of the states road miles. North Carolina, at the other end of the spectrum, has a highly centralized transportation system in which the state DOT builds and maintains secondary roads and there are no county road departments.