For Whom The Road "Tolls"

Let the grill-outs begin! With Memorial Day once again upon us, the unofficial start of the summer season will most likely find you dusting off the BBQ, lathering on the suncreen, and opening up your picnic baskets. It may also find you cursing your local gas pump.

Or not. In a world gone topsy-turvy, this Memorial Day weekend, gas prices will actually be lower almost nationwide, just in time for the summer driving season. The falling euro is the main factor, as investors flock to the dollar (oil prices are always reflected in U.S. currency); generally, as the dollar goes up, gas prices go down.

It's a certainly a short-term gain for Americans, but may be misleading in its overall benefit. Roads are partially paid with gas taxes, so struggling municipalities may have less to work with on local projects.

In Seattle, for instance, local freeways are already being converted to "pay"ways with tolls on some bridges and a predicted toll on every freeway by as soon as 2030.

This may drive (no pun intended) residents closer to the city. As Tim Ellis pointed out in his blog, SeattleBubble.com, gas prices increasing may not be enough to make families rethink their home's location choice, but a daily toll will.

We'll see how this all pans out; like most things in life, news has nuance, with shades of both "good" (lower gas prices) and "bad" (tolls) mixed together.

For my part, I'm going to look at the "good" in today's news and hope every one of you enjoys your holiday weekend.

I don't know about you, but I'm "pumped"!