If there's one question in this area that gets the same response no matter who you ask, it's this: What do you think of the roads?

Our answers Monday ranged from awful to terrible, from poorer than usual to "they suck."

It's not just anecdotall transportation lobbyist group MITA put out a report Monday that says Lansing's roads are the seventh worst out of 1,800 Michigan cities and townships.

"Having Lansing ranked in the top 10 isn't something we want to put up on a billboard anywhere," says MITA spokesman Mike Nystrom. "It's a black-eye for the state. It shows we're in the wrong direction."

Nystrom says the report shows things are only getting worse because of a lack of funds.

"Potholes, it means there's cracks, sprawling, roads are starting to fall apart at the edges," Nystrom lists as the area's road problems.

The roads might be getting worse, but MITA says the solution is the same. Adding three cents to every gallon of gas they say could help fix the roads. Question is-- are people open to that?

"Sure I would," Joe Messerly says.

Drivers like Messerly say tacking on three cents to the gallon isn't a big deal.

"It'd be worth it to drive on better roads. Three cents compared to $3 a gallon isn't a big percentage," he says.

Others are skeptical, especially when we told them MITA eventually wants the tax to go from three-- to six-- to nine cents more a gallon, up from 19 cents now.

"If the economy were better, it might be different. Not right now," says a hesitant Nick Vanover.

But Nystrom says if we don't do anything, Lansing's dubious honor will only get worse.