CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The state Division of Highways has secured $58 million in funding for the four-lane highway to be constructed to the Rock Creek Development Park in Boone and Lincoln counties.
The agency closed on Garvee bonds Thursday, DOH spokesman Brent Walker told MetroNews. 
“The money is in hand and it is specifically for this project. It can’t be used for another project,” Walker said.
The bonds were put out on the bond market last week.
Plans are to construct a 2.6 mile four-lane highway from near the U.S. Route 119/state Route 3 intersection in Boone County up the mountain to the former Hobet mountaintop removal mining site. The Tomblin administration has renamed the site Rock Creek Development Park. The National Guard is the first tenant.
Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin and state Commerce Secretary Keith Burdette have said on more than one occasion the construction of the highway is the key to convincing business owners to build at Rock Creek.
Garvee stands for Grant Anticipation Revenue Vehicle. The bonds are an option used by state’s to secure funding for highway projects quickly with the promise of federal funds to pay off the bonds, Walker said.
“We know that we will get x-number of dollars over the next several years from the federal government and we’ll able to take those now,” he said.
The highway is in the design phase. It’s a design-build project in which the contractor, Bizzack Construction, will be paid over a six-year period. The project is on the fast track, according to Walker. It’s expected to take four years to construct.
The Rock Creek Development Park includes more than 12,000 acres of flat land. Gov. Tomblin has compared it to the size of the Huntington.