Readers React: Gas-tax money should be spent on roads, period

To the editor: Whether it’s the roads throughout the state or the water mains in Los Angeles, the common question is this: Why was money earmarked to maintain or repair infrastructure diverted elsewhere, and by whom? (“Why are California’s roads so bad?,” op-ed, July 17)

Before you can fix something, you must first acknowledge how and why it is broken. The media need to step up to the plate and report the facts.

If vehicle owners and water users are asked to pay more, we need to know that the new funding will not be diverted.

Mitchell Lane, Shadow Hills

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To the editor: Assemblyman Jay Obernolte (R-Hesperia) asserts that the top five states ranked by the Reason Foundation as having the best highways are evidence that you can have a lower gasoline tax and a better-performing system.

What he fails to point out is that four of those states each have a smaller population than Orange County, and that maybe we need a higher tax to serve millions more drivers and far more highways than any of those states.

Our roads do need to be better, but lowering the gas tax or taking money away from public transit is not the way to do it.

Marc Popovich, San Clemente

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