HURRICANE, W.Va. — One of the advocates for a long-term, comprehensive road funding plan in West Virginia says the current conditions of the state’s roads — following a severe winter — should serve as a wake-up call for the state’s residents and their leaders.
“We’ve been ringing the bell, telling folks, ‘Hey, there’s a time coming when we’re simply going to have a highway system that won’t serve our needs and costs us a lot of money,'” said Joe Denault, treasurer for West Virginians for Better Transportation.
He and others with the group will be out at a rest area along Route 64 in Putnam County on Tuesday to call for action on the roads.
West Virginians for Better Transportation is a statewide coalition of businesses, trade associations, chambers of commerce, labor groups, convention and visitors bureaus and community groups. Those involved continue to push state lawmakers to develop long-term solutions for West Virginia’s road needs by identifying potential funding sources.
“Every state around us is taking a major effort to do something about funding for highways,” Denault said. “Virginia’s done it, Maryland’s done it, Pennsylvania’s done it, Ohio’s done it.”
Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin formed a Blue Ribbon Commission on Highways to find ways to pay for the construction and maintenance of West Virginia’s roads. That Commission has not yet submitted a final report. A preliminary report, though, included a recommendation that tolls on the West Virginia Turnpike be extended to finance bonds for road construction projects throughout the Mountain State.
The Legislature did not take up a comprehensive road funding plan during the 2014 Regular Legislative Session.
“We would love to see a long-term funding package come that guarantees that we’re going to have stability and some predictability for our highway system over the next 20, 30 years,” said Denault on Monday’s MetroNews “Talkline.”