At the beginning of the session, Rep. Bobby Harrell, R-Charleston, had the good idea to redirect as much as $90 million in gas tax money to the Department of Transportation for the specific purpose of repairing secondary roads. His proposal offered the added benefit of eliminating a superfluous program that uses $15 million to clean up underground gas tanks. Altogether it would have provided a modest fund for the repair of secondary roads, generally acknowledged to be DOT's biggest problem.

But the bill that came back from the Senate provided about $35 million to secondary roads, and kept the tank clean-up program intact. A like amount will be directed to the State Infrastructure Bank where it is expected to pay for bonds totaling some $300 million for new road projects. The House agreed to the Senate changes as the session came to an end. On Tuesday, both bodies overrode a gubernatorial veto.

Consequently, half of the increase realized by DOT will in all likelihood be used to add road-miles to one of the nation's largest state-maintained road systems, while the state can't maintain what it has. No doubt, there are new road projects that need funding, but none is as pressing as the long-deferred and under-funded maintenance of state roads.

The state has an annual deficit of more than $500 million in secondary road repairs. Those projects aren't given adequate resources because the state DOT uses gas tax revenue on projects for which federal road money can be leveraged. Secondary roads aren't eligible for federal funding.

Meanwhile, the state's gasoline tax of 16 cents per gallon is one of the lowest rates in the nation. Individual efforts in the Legislature to raise the gas tax have failed to advance, despite the demonstrable need for more road funds. Indeed, Rep. Harrell's plan almost died in the Senate when Sen. Hugh Leatherman, R-Florence, amended the bill to increase the gas tax by 7 cents a gallon. The senator's amendment was badly timed and was eventually dropped. But it did recognize the need for more revenue for secondary roads.

The Legislature would have done better to retain all revenues sought by Rep. Harrell for road maintenance. Legislators clearly should have eliminated funding for the underground tank program that their own Legislative Audit Council said should have been terminated years ago.

In short, the Legislature should have kept the focus on road maintenance, while developing the political will for a gas tax hike to deal with road repairs more comprehensively. Next year is an election year -- never a good time for any tax increase.

The motoring public had better hope that the Audit Council's performance review of the DOT suggests major economies that will allow more resources to be directed to the repair of the state's crumbling secondary roads.