Interstate 77 comes apart at the seams; emergency repaving project planned

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The state Division of Highways will open bids Tuesday on an emergency repaving project for 20 miles of Interstate 77 in Kanawha and Jackson counties.

State Transportation Secretary Paul Mattox said the road damage was more drastic than anything he witnessed in 31 years as a civil engineer.

“We basically had 15 to 20 miles that came apart at the seams,” Mattox said. “The longitude seams on that highway were so disintegrated, the potholes got so deep, that we had to close down (the interstate) for safety reasons.”

The DOH reshuffled its interstate program to fund the project, because that section of I-77 wasn’t scheduled for repaving, Mattox said.

In addressing lawmakers Monday, Mattox said the DOH has a $250-million budget for highway paving in the next fiscal year, which will keep the state at a 25-year paving cycle. Mattox said the highways should be repaved at 12-year intervals.

“We have to figure out ways to see how we can make our pavement life last longer,” he said. “We are investing more and more of our financial resources on paving preservation projects. You’re going to see more and more of that in West Virginia.”

State highway revenues are up more than $27 million this fiscal year, according to Mattox, who said the agency also is refinancing road bonds that were obtained during the Underwood administration.





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