Tom Cole, chief engineer for the Idaho Transportation Department, is presenting figures to the governor's task force on how much the state is falling behind on preservation and restoration of state and  local roads and bridges. If our goal as a state were just to keep the system in the condition it's in now, he said, we're short $211 million a year. If our goal is to get away from the "worst-first" approach to fixing roads and start gradually improving their condition, we're $270 million a year short.

Preservation and restoration, he said, are "the kind of things we do just to keep the roads open," from fixing potholes and seal-coating roads to plowing snow. It may include some upgrades required to keep roads up to current standards, but not expanding their capacity by adding lanes or anything like that.

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