If Monday's meeting was any indication, Gov. Butch Otter will have a lot of ideas on how to improve roads to sort through by the end of the summer.

Fewer stop lights, voluntary contributions and more mass transit were all floated as ways to improve transportation, as Otter took questions for about 30 minutes in a packed house at The College of Idaho in Caldwell. It was the first of six scheduled public meetings on road funding.

"This is a huge issue. People are upset because they see everything deteriorating," said Milt Erhart, a Meridian Chamber of Commerce member fed up with gridlock.

Erhart was one of about 100 people who attended the meeting.

During the next three weeks, Otter and transportation officials will have meetings around the state in each of the Idaho Transportation Department's six districts.

Otter and Idaho Transportation Department officials say there is a $240 million annual shortfall for road work that is already cutting into basic upkeep of roads.

Without more money, already rickety roads and bridges will quickly fall into further disrepair, said Transportation Department Director Pamela Lowe.

Lowe said 19 percent of the pavement on Idaho roads is in need of repair, a number that will jump to 40 percent in the next five years without increased funding.

With revenues flat, the department is barely keeping up with snowplowing and filling potholes and is largely forgoing buying new equipment and starting new road projects, Lowe said.

"We are rapidly approaching a time when we are not going to be able to fund our basic transportation needs," she said.

Erhart said one of the problems the Transportation Department runs into is that the department's proposed road projects drive up the value of land needed for rights of way.

"Why are we paying top dollar when we're the ones enhancing it?" he said.

Paying for mass transit, including giving local governments the ability to implement voter-approved sales tax increases, has been a big issue in the Treasure Valley for years.

At Monday's meeting, Jane Wright of Star told Otter the state needs to do more to get people out of their cars, rather than expanding roads.

"No city has ever solved its transportation problem by adding lanes," she said.

Road funding was a major failure for Otter during the last legislative session.

After making it a top priority to raise more money to fix and maintain Idaho roads, Otter's initial plan to steeply raise car registration was universally panned.

Later efforts to reach a compromise fizzled when Otter dismissed legislation that would have raised about $68 million, saying it was inadequate. Otter had asked for at least $200 million over three years.

Otter said that by design he is not targeting particular funding sources yet, preferring to wait until after the public meetings to craft a plan.

If the Legislature does raise more money from roads this year, Idaho drivers and truckers are almost certain to see their vehicle registration fees go up. How much more drivers would pay for registration is very much up in the air, though.

Otter's initial plan last session would have raised car registration fees up to six-fold, and everyone would have paid at least $150 per car. Companion legislation would have significantly raised trucking fees.

An alternate plan backed by the Idaho Transportation Department, which also failed, proposed raising car fees by between $12 and $36 per year, raising trucking fees, and increasing the gas tax by 3 cents per gallon.

With gas topping $4 a gallon, any increase in the gas tax is likely to be a tough sell.

"By the end of the summer, everybody will understand the gravity of the situation, and we will agree on some legislation," said Clete Edmunson, Otter's special assistant on transportation.

Heath Druzin: 373-6617