When writing a prototype web application I ran into a similar issue,
for me paths were the crux of the matter, and urls like
http://my.test.server/webapp/path/to/my/favorites to be
much more sensible than
http://my.test.server/cgi-bin/webapp.pl?path=/path/to/my/favorites
The modperl pages are a wonderful resource. Specifically
you might like to look at Location & SetHandler which can do
what you need. Getting your admins to hack on the httpd.conf for you is an excersise for the reader :).
I can't believe it's not psellchecked