[This is an EXCERPT: read the whole article (with a list of what some municipalities are doing in response) here. -Ed.]

"Fewer roads will be repaved this summer, thanks to soaring prices of oil-based asphalt.

"Some states, cities and counties say their road-repair budgets didn't anticipate asphalt prices that are up 25.9% from a year ago, so they're being forced to delay projects.

"'We will do what patching we can, but this will truly, truly be a devastating blow to the infrastructure,' says Shirlee Leighton, a county commissioner in Lake County, S.D., where a 5-mile repaving project was postponed after bids came in $79,000-$162,000 higher than the $442,000 budget.

"The mix used to resurface roads consists of gravel and sand held together with a binder called liquid asphalt, which is made from crude oil. As oil prices rise, so does the cost of asphalt, says Don Wessel of Poten & Partners, a consulting firm that publishes Asphalt Weekly Monitor. 'Prices are the highest I've seen in many, many, many years,' he says. 'The concern is that they will go up considerably.'"

Photo credit: Tammy Green