What doesn't add up is why Coburg and Cottage Grove aren't looking to pass higher gas taxes, given their confiscatory potential along I-5. Coburg expects to raise $60,000 on the 2 million gallons sold. Why settle for chicken feed?

Does any Coburg resident really buy his or her gas there? Isn't almost all the gas purchased "in" Coburg done by those just passing through and in a blind rush to keep going? Out-of-town drivers are volunteering to get ripped off. Has the speed-trap model that once funded this "city" really fallen that far out of vogue?

Similarly, look at Cottage Grove, which expects to raise $675,000 to $700,000 on about 23 million gallons sold. A city six times its population size (Springfield) would harvest $1.1 million on 36.7 million gallons sold. Is it not obvious who's actually paying the freight in the two smaller communities? It ain't the locals.

There's road-repair gold in them thar gas pumps along I-5.