LANSING, MI -- Michigan's road funding need is growing on paper even as potholes are growing on pavement, according to Department of Transportation Director Kirk Steudle.

"In the next couple of years, deterioration will accelerate," Steudle told lawmakers on Tuesday during a budget hearing in Lansing. "I think you're going to see a lot of that in this next month.

"As this brutal winter finally lets go, you're going to see one of the biggest pavement breakups that we've ever seen in our lifetime. It's already started."

Cold temperatures and precipitation have led to a build-up of ice beneath Michigan roads, Steudle said. When that ice contracts and expands, it produces cracks and potholes, especially in roads already in poor condition.

"Frankly, there are roads out there that have frost heave in them that I've never seen in my 30-year career," Steudle said in testimony before the state House appropriations subcommittee on transportation.

Lawmakers are considering Republican Gov. Rick Snyder's $3.7 billion transportation budget proposal for fiscal year 2015, which includes $254 million in one-time general fund money for road and bridge improvements rather than a long-term revenue mechanism.

Snyder called for $1.2 billion in new road funding through increased fuel taxes and registration fees last year, but lawmakers failed to act on his proposal. Instead, they approved one-time funding, which the governor is asking for again absent a legislative compromise.

Because it is more expensive to replace a bad road than repair a poor one, Snyder contends that continued failure to find a long-term solution will drive up the total cost. He now pegs the need at $1.3 billion a year just to maintain current road conditions.

"I'm pragmatic enough to say it's difficult during an election year," Snyder said during a live chat with MLive.com on Thursday. "So I'll still encourage legislators to come to the table and get something done, but if not this year, let's get it done next year."

The governor's 2015 budget includes $139.1 million in general fund transportation dollars to maximize a federal match, along with another $115 million for state trunkline road and bridge construction. There's also $40 million in additional highway maintenance funding, which the state uses for snow plowing, pothole repairs, vegetation control and more.

But before the Republican-led Legislature finalizes the 2015 budget, MDOT is expected to ask for roughly $30 million more for the current year through a supplemental funding bill, hoping to address unexpected costs due to the harsh winter.

MDOT budgeted around $88 million for highway maintenance in fiscal year 2014, basing that figure on a five-year average, but Steudle said the department is on pace to spend $117 million through October. Local communities are dealing with the same unexpected cost, meaning they will have less money available for summer maintenance.

Michigan gasoline and diesel taxes -- a primary source for road and bridge funding -- are amongst the lowest in the Midwest, according to a new report from Michigan State University. But because the state also charges sales tax on fuel, local motorists pay more at the pump than they would in most neighboring states.

Michigan lawmakers last increased fuel taxes in 1997, and some transportation funding advocates believe roads will have to get worse before the public backs a new revenue source to make them better.

"How about three weeks from now?" Steudle told reporters after Tuesday's budget hearing, referring to the ice heaves he mentioned earlier. "Roads are going to be worse three weeks from now."

Jonathan Oosting is a Capitol reporter for MLive Media Group. Email him, find him on Google+ or follow him on Twitter.