DOH shifts focus and funds to repaving projects

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The state announced plans Friday to re-priortize highway funding which will add an additional $75 million for paving and road repair projects.

More than $300 million has been authorized. An amount that’s usually $225 million, Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin said while speaking to the West Virginia Press Association Friday afternoon. The additional money is coming from increased revenues in the state road fund and the shifting of other revenues.

“Seventy percent of our funding is now going to go toward the preservation of the existing highway system and 30 percent to new four-lane construction,” state Transportation Secretary Paul Mattox said.

The split has been 50-50 in recent years, but there’s an increasing need to shorten the cycle of repaving existing roads, Mattox said.

“In our next six-year program that’s the kind of redistribution were looking at,” Mattox said. “It’s going to take a few years to get (our roads) back into shape but that’s what we’re focused on.”

The increased funding will result in an additional 1,775 miles being repaved in the current budget, Mattox said.

Additional revenue for highways in recent months has come from a number of sources including collecting more than expected from the taxes that make up the state Road Fund ($47 million); the refinancing of the state road bond debt ($24 million); and revenue from the consumer sales tax on construction materials $11 million).

The 30 percent in funding for four-lane highways will be enough to help complete U.S. Route 35, Corridor H and state Route 10. All of which are currently under construction.





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