Of all the modern conveniences we take for granted — a light goes on at the flip of a switch, water comes out at the turn of a tap — our roads and highways rank high on the list. But our marvelous system of roads, highways and interstates are crumbling with age and in desperate need of repair and upgrades, along with infrastructure like bridges, overpasses and drainage culverts. Funding for such needs is expensive, and a five-year recession depleted most public coffers of transportation funds when other priorities took precedence.