West Virginians for Better Transportation rallied at the State Capitol Monday to once again draw attention to the state’s deteriorating infrastructure, as if we need reminding. Governor Tomblin’s Blue Ribbon Commission on Highways reported last year that more than one third of the state’s major roads are either in poor or mediocre condition.
Last winter was particularly rough on our roads and bridges, leaving West Virginia motorists dodging and weaving around potholes and sending drivers by the score to the repair shop. The Commission reports “rough roads cost West Virginia motorists a total of $400 million annually in extra vehicle operating costs.”
Governor Tomblin scraped together an extra $82 million, bringing the total spending for road repairs and repaving up to $300 million, the most ever in any one year. He deserves credit for hearing the complaints and finding some additional funds to patch and pave.
However, in laying out his agenda during his state of the state address for his final year in office the Governor never mentioned roads. He may have been thinking that without a long-term solution, it’s best just to remain mum on the subject.
The issue, as always, is money. Last year Congress finally passed a comprehensive five year highway funding bill, ending a series of short-term measures that made it difficult for states to plan and pay for major road projects. The legislation should provide more than $2 billion to West Virginia for highway construction.
A recently released independent audit of the state Division of Highways includes nearly 100 pages of recommended best practices that would make DOH more efficient. The changes could result in annual savings of $25 to $50 million.
But that would still leave the state way short of the estimated $1.1 billion in annual additional spending the Blue Ribbon Commission says would be necessary to improve and expand the state’s road system.
The most direct fix would be for those who use the roads to pay more for them through higher gasoline taxes, but it’s hard to imagine any sentiment for that in the Legislature, even though according to Triple-A gas prices in 2015 were the second lowest in a decade.
Governor Tomblin has already proposed two tax increases—one on tobacco and another on telecommunications—to balance the budgets this year and next. He will have a hard enough time getting those through the Republican-controlled Legislature without adding more taxes, especially in an election year.
The state of West Virginia is responsible for maintaining over 35,000 miles of roads that traverse some of the most challenging terrain in the country. The needs are obvious to anyone who gets behind the wheel, but the solutions are more elusive.