WINFIELD, W.Va. — Putnam County residents gathered at the county courthouse Tuesday to discuss the effects of the road bond referendum, as well as learn about the interchange planned for U.S. Route 35.
Sen. Glenn Jeffries, D-Putnam, hosted the meeting, which included a presentation by state Transportation Secretary Tom Smith on the $1.6 billion in bonds that will be voted on Oct. 7. Early voting is scheduled to begin Friday.
Multiple legislators, including Senate President Mitch Carmichael, R-Jackson, were also present.
Jeffries said the meeting came after a July meeting of the Putnam County Transportation Committee where multiple questions were brought up about the bond and the safety of Route 35.
“We wanted to be transparent with the voters out there for them to be able to understand and to know this road bond and the projects that would be included in it,” he said.
Smith said the project will benefit West Virginia in the creation of jobs, citing a 2014 Duke University study stating every $1 billion in investment will result in 21,671 positions.
Jeffries said the project will directly benefit the residents of Putnam County by widening the Interstate 64 bridge between St. Albans and Nitro.
“It is a bottleneck,” Jeffries described the current conditions. “There is a wreck almost every day right there at the bridge. This bond will allow them to expedite that project in order for them to put a new bridge across and then also add the additional third lane that will connect from Cross Lanes all the way down to Teays Valley.”
Smith also discussed new plans for a Route 35 interchange near Buffalo, which received applause from the attendees. The intersection would change to include ramps connecting to Shamrock Lane.
According to Jeffries, from 1,500 to 2,000 people travel on Route 35 during a shift change at the Toyota Manufacturing Plant near the road.
“The initial proposal for that interchange was a typical stoplight,” he said. “With that much traffic coming out and people traveling 60, 70 miles per hour, I’m not going to say it was a bad design because it wasn’t fully designed.”
Putnam County Commissioner Andy Skidmore said the interchange will be a big relief to motorists.
“It’s a huge safety concern,” he said.
While Putnam County resident Stephanie Butcher said she supported the Route 35 project, she added she could not support the road bond for financial reasons.
“I think we’re better off to pay as we go,” she said. “I’m in favor of cutting the waste, fraud and abuse.”
Butcher noted the alleged price fixing of asphalt as one issue that should be targeted; Charleston, Parkersburg, Beckley and Bluefield filed antitrust lawsuits against West Virginia Paving in October 2016 in an effort to bust what they described as an asphalt monopoly. The state Department of Transportation and Attorney General Patrick Morrisey announced subsequent lawsuits.
Smith said Tuesday the state is still in the midst of litigation on the matter.