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DOH opens bids on $240 million in Garvee bond projects

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — While a lot of discussion continues about the upcoming road bond amendment election in West Virginia, the state Division of Highways opened bids this week on more than $240 million in projects to be paid for with Garvee bonds.

State Transportation Secretary Tom Smith said it was the single largest bid opening in the history of the DOH. Bids were opened on approximately 30 projects.

Most of the projects are related to bridges across the state. There are some paving projects and slide repairs.

MORE see list of projects here

Garvee stands for Grant Anticipation Revenue Vehicle. The bonds are an option used by states to secure funding for highway projects quickly with the promise of future federal funds to pay off the bonds. The legislature passed a bill earlier this year that expanded the state’s Garvee bond capacity.

During an appearance Friday on MetroNews “Talkline,” Smith said West Virginia-based contractors were the low bidders on nearly every project.

“We know how to structure these things in a way that give our contractors great opportunities and they stepped up in the biggest sort of way this past Tuesday and we look for that to continue (with road bond projects),” Smith said.

The Garvee bond financing option is one of three ways the state expects to pay for road and bridge construction in the years ahead. The $1.6 billion road bond issue is up for vote Oct. 7 that includes dozens of new construction projects and a restructuring of the tolling system on the West Virginia Turnpike is expected to finance even more projects in a 10-county region in southern West Virginia.

Smith and Gov. Jim Justice attended town hall meetings to explain and promote the bond issue Friday in Parkersburg and Ripley.

The bids opened Tuesday on the Garvee projects won’t be finalized for a few weeks.





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