Quite a while back, the Powers That Be in Sacremento decided that roads and freeways were Things of Evil, and that building them and widening them were just encouraging people to use their (spits on the ground) automobiles.

There was a time when it was like pulling teeth to do any major highway construction out here. A major interchange near where I live was paid for by local sales taxes on a ballot proposition (I voted for it--you'd be amazed how often I've voted for local tax increases for local projects. Our new library, for example).

But--and this is just an impression--I think the government's attitude toward highways is better now than it was a few years back, and some badly needed work is getting done including actual new capacity and some serious seismic retrofits that will pay off big time someday. I'm actually impressed by how much better Caltrans is doing now than it was when I moved out here, and I'll let you in on a little secret:

If I knew the money was going to go for sure to bridges, highways, and infrastructure, instead of billion-dollar "Light Rail" crap or being siphoned into the general budget, I might not have a problem with tacking a few cents onto my gas tax.