Last year, the Legislature had one of those rare strokes of genius: Dedicate a portion of sales tax revenue to pay for road improvements.

The plan was to take the sales tax paid on cars, car parts and service and squirrel it away in an earmarked, interest-bearing account to pay for road repairs. The fund would have raised $2 billion in 10 years, and it would have literally been painless for taxpayers; the public is already paying that tax.

Unfortunately, genius does not survive long in politically charged environments. Lawmakers struck down the earmarking of sales tax revenue, instead asking the bill's supporters and the public to believe in their lawmakers' promises to keep money in the fund. Specifying where the money must go, legislators argued, would tie their hands and keep the Legislature from responding quickly to some fiscal crisis. Besides, lawmakers argued, we can be trusted.

Well, distinguished ladies and gentlemen, now is your chance.

Thanks to an improving economy, Utah has a surplus of money, currently estimated at $344 million. In the past, lawmakers holding a surplus would turn around and give it back to taxpayers in the form of tax cuts, the argument being that it was the public's money to begin with.

We agree that it makes sense for the state to give back money when it doesn't need it. But that is clearly not the case today. Enacting a tax cut now is the worst possible idea, given the economic disaster that could result from a failure to fix our major transportation corridors.

There is a better idea for the surplus: Bank it for the transportation fund. This would be a wiser and more statesmanlike course than wasting it on a measly $75 refund. While it's true that much of the money would go back into the economy, it would not go where it is needed most.

One only needs to drive around the valley to understand the transportation nightmare we will all face every day in the near future. At peak times, Interstate 15 is already failing as an artery for moving traffic, and it will only get worse as Utah County's population continues to boom.

Current construction on I-15 is only a stopgap measure. The freeway, and the local roads that feed it, must be seriously overhauled if the communities of Utah Valley want prosperity. Gridlock is not acceptable.

Since lawmakers are loathe to raise taxes or to bond for the money, putting Utah's current surplus into the Transportation Investment Fund is the best idea. That $344 million would put the state several years ahead in growing the fund, since the original plan was to put only $90 million into it annually through a sales tax diversion.

Putting the surplus into the transportation fund would benefit Utahns a whole lot more than a tax refund that won't buy much more than a night on the town.

All of us use the highway system, even the people who do not drive. Food does not just magically appear on grocery store shelves, or by means of a Star Trek transporter. It comes by road. So does our mail and everything else we depend on. Business is sustained by road transportation.

Utah could have the best educated workforce in the nation, along with all the other perks a company is looking for, but who would want to set up shop in a state where the freeways regularly turn into parking lotsfi It's tough to engage in commerce when you can't move your products or provide your services.

Politicians typically don't like earmarking. It takes away their ability to play with the dollars. But dedicating a budget surplus to roads does not constitute earmarking in the usual sense. It is simply a one-time capital investment of money already in hand.

The Legislature needs to turn off the political autopilot this time. Aiming the budget surplus at roads clearly serves the interests of our state in the long term. It is the right thing to do.

Our roads are our economic lifeblood. We must not allow the short-sightedness of a few to undermine the quality of life of the many -- and of future generations.

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page A5.