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I was always under the impression that most road damage is caused by the perpetual heating-and-cooling cycle that paved surfaces go through, not the weight or amount of cars (sans heavy, tracked vehicles, like a tank. Those'll tear up roads quickly).
That having been said, cutting back on road maintenance is one of the dumbest things we could do. America is a huge country and without proper infrastructure in place our economy would go straight down the shitter.
Roads are expensive, no doubt. A fact even the Romans appreciated.
But what's the alternative? Unless you're cool with bridges randomly collapsing (like what happened in Wisconsin a few years back) or needing a 4x4 just to be able to buy groceries I would say that we're just gonna have to bite the bullet and pay whatever it costs.
Our road infrastructure in the US enjoys heavy government subsidies. The gasoline taxes don't come close to covering most road construction and maintenance costs.
There's definitely room for improvement, including reevaluating the way we finance our roads. However, there are other possible solutions as well, like changing development patterns and improving public transit options.
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