By further considering contracting with a private company to build and run a major toll road - probably the proposed Mountain View Corridor planned for western Salt Lake County - they are asking a newer question that has been addressed in one form or another in 23 other states.

But before the Legislature agrees to anything, there will be many other questions to be asked and answered.

Among the most important is whether such a public-private partnership would really be a savings for Utah taxpayers and motorists, or whether added costs would be hidden in mountains of long-term private debt and toll rates that may be higher than what a purely government project would require, all of it approved by lawmakers who only want to say they didn't raise gasoline taxes.

Still, the proposal being floated by state Sen. Sheldon Killpack, R-Syracuse, is worthy of serious consideration.

The state is at least $16 billion behind its demand for highways, and billions more for public transit projects. But few people would get elected to the Legislature on a promise to raise taxes - unless the vote were to be taken among drivers stuck in traffic on Salt Lake County's 7200 South or Utah County's I-15. That is a specialized electorate that would be willing to open their wallets, if not their veins, to address the problems.

That's what a toll road would be - paid for by those who use it. Modern amenities could include computerized sensors to bill frequent users without making them stop at a toll gate, allowances for car pools that reduce traffic and, with Killpack's brainstorm, a private company to raise the money, build and maintain the highway and collect the dough.

Of course, a private company might have to pay higher interest rates than the state would to finance the project. It might need assurances that its profits would take priority over any desire to keep toll rates low. And it might face serious temptations to cut corners on everything from labor and workplace safety to concrete to maintenance just to keep its own bottom line inflated.

New projects such as Mountain View may be perfect for the toll-road option. But lawmakers need to think long and hard before they go looking for someone to share the blame.