A trio of Republican state lawmakers say they have a solution for Colorado's transportation woes: directing oil and gas taxes toward the state's dilapidated roads starting with the congested 1-70.

Rep. Frank McNulty, R-Highlands Ranch, says petitioners are close to collecting the number of signatures they need to get Initiative 120 on the ballot in November.

Right now, severance tax revenues paid by oil and gas companies are divided equally between local governments and the state Department of Natural Resources. Initiative 120 would leave the local portion untouched, but cap the state's share and allow for inflation.

McNulty said the plan could redirect as much as $90 million in the first year and up to $250 million in the next four years. A state transportation panel estimates Colorado must spend $500 million a year to keep roads and bridges in their current conditions and ideally would spend $1.5 billion.

"We need to make transportation funding a priority," McNulty said. "We can't stand by and wait for a $1.5 billion solution when we have hundreds of millions of dollars looking us in the face right now."

Democratic Gov. Bill Ritter and his colleagues in the legislature took heat this year for failing to find funding for more than 200 Colorado roads and bridges in critical condition.

A spokesman for the Department of Natural Resources did not return a call for comment on Initiative 120.