The roads in that part of America must really be paved with gold.
It's the problem of too few people (and hence automobiles), and many miles of road.
And Nebraska, being in the center of America, needs to have all sorts of roads and highways, for people rushing from New York City to San Francisco, from Seattle to Miami, and all points in between.
We aren't
really fond of being the crossroads of America, because we're having to build and maintain all these roads for people who aren't going to spend any money in Nebraska, other than perhaps $40 for gasoline and $1 for a 44-ounce soda, on their ways to and from somewhere besides Nebraska.
If any of them would stop and settle, we'd have more to share the burden of automotive taxes, and hence lower taxes per capita. But everybody's just passing through, not moving here.
The Rapid City, South Dakota, and the Denver, Colorado, business interests want a four-lane highway built between those two cities, so as to facilitate commerce that, obviously favors South Dakota and Colorado, and Nebraska hardly at all.
The current highway between Rapid City and Denver is fine, but they want four lanes, despite that one can drive for half an hour in the panhandle of Nebraska without seeing another car on the road.
The federal government (i.e., the hard-pressed American taxpayers) is willing to pay 80% the cost of construction of this highway, nearly all of which would be inside the borders of Nebraska, but Nebraska refuses to bite. We know how it works.
Once the thing would be completed, Nebraska would be responsible for maintenance and further improvements on a highway that benefits South Dakota and Colorado, but not us.
Too few Nebraska-registered motor vehicles, too many miles of roads. That's why automotive-related taxes and fees are so high.
