CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The crumbling roads of West Virginia and the spotlight on a lack of money to fix them is prompting more discussion in Charleston about finding money for repairs. Mercer County Delegate Marty Gearheart who serves as Chairman of the House Roads and Transportation Committee said two laws approved earlier this year are now in effect which aim to draw down more dollars to pay for road repairs.
One new law is the open container law in West Virginia. This new regulation disallows an open container of alcohol in any part of a vehicle on West Virginia roadways.
“Not having that in place cost us the ability to use $9.4 Million for road construction and maintenance,”said Gearheart.
Gearheart and others specifically crafted the language of the law to comply with the federal requirements and enable the money to be transferred from construction funds to repair funds.
The second law creates a Transportation Infrastructure Fund Program within the Division of Highways. The function of the fund is to make loans to cities and counties in the state for local road projects, for which they can apply. The second function of the fund is to help draw down more federal highway money.
“The Federal government likes that we have fund here,” he said. “States are able to leverage a variety of federal dollars, simply by having the level in place.
Gearheart says he’s confident an audit will how other ways to save and generate new money for the DOH, but there needs to be will to use the findings up the audit in legislative form.
“:It is my hope that audit will reveal a variety of things that can be done through legislation or rule that means we can get more out of the money we’re currently spending,” he said. “An we may be able to get more money.”