We have to pay for them somehow...

And this is why I am in favor of making the gas tax a percentage of the cost, not a flat per-gallon rate. How long has it been since gas taxes rose? I hate taxes, but there are some things - like roads - which we just have to pay for. The fairest way is to base it on use. The people who drive more or the people who drive heavier cars do more damage to the roads and use more gas, so it only seems fair that they should have to pay to maintain the roads on which they drive. From The Free Press:

Group: Bad roads cost Mich. drivers $7 billion a year

Michigan drivers pay about $7 billion a year in added vehicle maintenance, wasted fuel costs and death and injury related to poor roads, according to a study released today.

The study also warns that, by 2030, unless the state builds more roads to handle increasing traffic, rush-hour delays in metro Detroit could cause commutes to take 50% longer, raising congestion levels to those seen in the San Francisco and Washington, D.C., areas.

According to TRIP, a nonprofit transportation-research group in Washington, D.C., funded primarily by the construction industry:

•Extra operating expenses such as accelerated vehicle depreciation, repairs and tire wear cost Michigan drivers about $2.6 billion a year.

•Congestion on major roads cost drivers $2.3 billion in delays and wasted fuel.

•Traffic crashes and deaths at least partly attributed to outdated roadway design cost Michigan drivers about $2.1 billion in medical expenses, lost economic and household productivity, property damage and travel delays.