WHEELING, W.Va. — The governor’s Blue Ribbon Commission on Highways resumes public hearings this week with the first coming Tuesday evening at Oglebay Park in Wheeling.
The commission is gathering information from residents on highway funding needs. It’s been looking at the issue itself for several months. The public hearings are one of the last components before the commission submits its recommendations to Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin.
State Transportation Secretary Paul Mattox said the first three hearings in Kearneysville, Logan and Huntington have produced some good ideas but it’s not an easy issue to solve.
“We’re just going to have to look at a menu of items,” Mattox said.
Some states have pursued new toll roads while others have raised taxes.
“They’ve dedicated a portion of their sales tax for their highway system. Virginia did that but they also gave their citizens a break at the gas pump,” Sec. Mattox said.
The Blue Ribbon Commission on Highways is also scheduled to meet in Parkersburg this Thursday, Fairmont on Aug. 8, Princeton and Beckley on Aug. 12 and Elkins, Aug. 15.
All meetings go from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.