The state Department of Transportation is in serious need of cash.

So critical is the need, in fact, one of the state lawmakers scheduled to take part in the special session convening Tuesday called it a "financial disaster."

"I wouldn't term it any other thing than a financial disaster in that agency," said Rep. Larry Larrañaga, R-Albuquerque, a former state transportation secretary. "They have got real issues there."

Chief among them is trying to pay for the maintenance on 30,000 lane miles of roads. The department needs about $2.4 billion a year to keep its highway system in a state of good repair, but has just $806 million in current funding. That $1.5 billion gap is giving legislative leaders heartburn and helped prompt Gov. Susana Martinez to ask lawmakers for $41 million for repairs in the special session.

In the Santa Fe area, the money would go to fix damaged bridge infrastructure on N.M. 14 near Cerrillos, to complete work on U.S. 84/285 near Tesuque and Cuyamungue and to fix a four-mile stretch of N.M. 68 between Española and Velarde, among other things. It also would help seal cracks on St. Francis Drive, if lawmakers approve.

With so many repair needs, even $41 million is a drop in the bucket, lawmakers said.

"Every little bit helps," said Rep. Bobby Gonzales, D-Taos, chairman of the House Transportation and Public Works Committee.

"Of course it doesn't address all the needs out there. We are way behind on our maintenance and replacing of equipment," he said.

Larrañaga said the department is having trouble keeping up with basic repairs because it is saddled with bond debt.

"What has happened is that they almost have no money left for anything other than to put the money toward paying down the bonds and obligations they have," he said.

Those bonds include cash that is going to pay off the Rail Runner Express, and a new study estimates the state is paying about $41 million in debt service alone on the passenger-train operation.

Martinez said the state needs the extra $41 million for maintenance funding to help offset the bonding costs.

Transportation Secretary Alvin Dominguez said the shortfall of funding to maintain current paving and infrastructure is "overwhelming."

"Between the loss of revenue caused by the recession, the increased debt obligation and the increased costs of construction and pavement due to inflation, our buying power is less than half of what it was 10 years ago," he said.

Dominguez also said he is concerned over uncertain levels of federal funding.

Department of Transportation information shows almost 75 percent of the paving needs in the state are currently unfunded, as are 91 percent of crack-sealing needs.

That means roads aren't just bumpy, they are dangerous. And the number of claims over improperly maintained roads, and the amount paid out, has risen.

In 2010, 137 claims were made for damage to vehicles because of defects in state roads, up from 38 in 2006.

At the same time, the amount paid in liability claims by the state rose from $551,827 in 2006 to more than $1 million in 2009, records show.

Gonzales said he's concerned about those costs.

"Eventually the neglect and the lack of support is going to turn into a liability. If you have areas that are not safe and accidents start occurring, we are going to start seeing that liability go up even more," he said.

New Mexico's maintenance needs also are getting attention from other groups.

A study released last week by TRIP, a national nonprofit transportation research group, found that 21 percent of New Mexico's rural roads are in poor condition.

The report also indicated that the problem is widespread and growing. Thirteen percent of the country's rural bridges were categorized as structurally deficient while 10 percent were functionally obsolete in 2010, the report found. Forty-three percent of the nation's major rural roads were rated in mediocre or fair condition in 2008.

Apart from maintenance, there are giant construction needs around the state. Estimates have put that price tag at upward of $16 billion.

Larrañaga said the state really has to focus on maintenance before it thinks about building anything new.

"We are at the state level that we can't even begin to address that," he said of new construction. "We're just looking at holding the roads we have together."

Contact Kate Nash at 986-3036 or knash@sfnewmexican.com. Read her blog at www.greenchilechatter.com.