A push to raise the price you pay at the pump in South Dakota will be one of the hot topics in Pierre this next legislative session.

A group studying the highway needs in the state says a multi-million dollar budget shortfall is down the road for South Dakota's highways and increasing the gas tax and licensing fees may be the only way to pay for it.

In Irene, oversized loads traveling down an undersized road is the concern that's heading down State Highway 46.

"It's not a good highway. It's a dangerous highway," Irene resident Cleo Waters said.

The narrow pavement, rolling hills and small shoulder off Highway 46 has inspired Irene residents to lobby the state to rip it up and build a wider road. 

"Traffic gets backed up and people get impatient and there really is no where to pass safely so people go ahead and pass in unsafe situations," Irene resident Becky McManus said.

McManus is one Irene resident that's asking the Department of Transportation to make changes to the highway that hasn't seen any major reconstruction since 1953

Waters drives the road almost every day and the need for a new one is obvious to her.

"It's a dangerous highway because you're behind farm equipment, you're behind slow moving vehicles, and there's no place to pass," Waters said.

KELOLAND News cameras caught a grain-truck passing a tractor in a no-passing zone on Highway 46, just as another semi came over the hill.

It's a prime example of the concerns the community has about the 50-year-old highway.

"And they feel badly.  They can't move over, they can't move faster and they have a line up of traffic behind them. So, many times they see people taking a deathly chance just passing them out there on that highway," Waters said.

Highway 46 is scheduled to be re-surfaced next summer, but the state transportation commission is reconsidering that plan because residents around Irene would rather see it reconstructed. The only problem is the state needs to pay for it.

It's money the state doesn't have right now. South Dakota DOT officials estimate the state will face a $160 million shortfall every year after federal stimulus money runs out.  It's money that would maintain South Dakota roads and finish major construction projects a lot faster.

"The roads are critical to our economy, absolutely critical. Whether it's farm to market, whether it's interstate, state, city, county these roads are critical to our economy," Republican Representative Manny Steele from Sioux Falls said.

Steele is on the committee that is recommending a ten cent gas tax increase and doubling license fees by 2012. The extra fees would raise the money needed to maintain and fix state roads. 

While Steele thinks some sort of increase needs to happen, he voted against the proposal because he doesn't think it's the right time.

"The state is in an economic slump right now and I don't know what's going to happen next year and that is my concern," Steele said.

Steele says overall South Dakota's roads are in good shape and he thinks the state can wait a year for the economy to straighten out before it considers any tax increase.

"Right now, 86 percent of our roads are in excellent or good shape. They are not going to deteriorate all in one year. Now if we wait a number of years without doing something, we're going to affect our economy and it's going to affect our economy, and it's going to cost us a lot more later on," Steele said.

Steele would also like to see a more gradual increase of fees and taxes over several years instead of just two.

As for what the backers of a new highway near Irene think of an increased gas tax. 

"Our taxes it seems like, that seems to be the answer to every problem is to raise the taxes and I think there should be some more creative ways to come up with the money," Waters said. 

"I wish they would find alternative ways to do that without raising taxes. I also do feel as a South Dakotan we have been fortunate that we don't have a lot of taxes, and we don't have a personal income tax. Our licensing fees for vehicles are pretty reasonable compared to other states and so I think we need to think about what's the right thing to do," McManus said. 

Right now, reconstructing a highway that's been dangerous for decades may depend on the decision South Dakota legislators make a few months down the road.

State transportation officials say there are several other stretches of road across South Dakota that are similar to the one in Irene. They've been scheduled to be re-paved in the next couple of years, but residents are asking them to save the time and money and reconstruct their old section of highway.