Increase hits road projects

Record-high oil prices are turning out to be bad news not only for drivers, but also for the roads they drive on.

Transportation agencies nationwide are seeing sharp increases in the cost of road building because soaring oil prices are driving up the cost of oil-based asphalt, as well as the cost of fuel used by trucks and road-building equipment.

Higher costs could be particularly painful in Washington. The state is trying to catch up on a backlog of infrastructure projects with an aggressive, $8.5 billion transportation construction package funded by a 9.5-cent-a-gallon gas tax.

Oil has gotten much more expensive — shooting to an all-time high of more than $71 a barrel on April 18. And that is driving up the price of asphalt, which is 5 percent oil by weight.

Puget Sound Business Journal