“Signing this bill is a huge win for our roads, our people, and West Virginia,” Justice said. “With federal funds only stretching so far, this additional $150 million means our hardworking Division of Highways crew can roll up their sleeves and tackle even more roads. I am beyond proud we got this across the finish, and I thank the West Virginia legislature for prioritizing our roads. Now, we can keep the momentum going and continue to improve every corner of our state.”
The $150 million supplemental budget appropriation will be used exclusively for paving projects in every district in West Virginia and will greatly increase the ability of WVDOH to pave the roads West Virginians drive every day.
“Once again, our Governor has led from the front,” Transportation Secretary Jimmy Wriston, PE, said. “He has demonstrated time and again that investing in our infrastructure pays dividends for our citizens. By calling the legislature back for a special session to appropriate surplus funds for highway paving, our great people will continue to reap the rewards of a highway system that serves them well.”
When Justice took office in 2017, he made highway maintenance and construction a major cornerstone of his administration. Justice’s $2.8 billion Roads to Prosperity program and Secondary Roads Initiative combined to address decades of underinvestment in the Mountain State’s highway and bridge infrastructure and transform the state’s highway system. In that same time, over $816 million of surplus funds has been delivered to WVDOH to repair and improve West Virginia’s roadways.
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Knowing that federal highway funding can only go so far and pave so many miles of road, Justice has asked the legislature to approve additional money for WVDOH for paving and other uses for the past several years.
WVDOH has used a portion of those supplemental budget appropriations for new equipment, but this year, it plans to use the funding solely for additional paving projects throughout the state. In all, the supplemental budget appropriation will pay for 499 paving projects on more than 973 miles of road that are not covered by federal highway funds.
A few of the projects to be paid for with the $150 million appropriation include portions of 55 different roads in Kanawha, Boone, Clay, Mason, and Putnam counties; 83 roads in Cabell, Lincoln, Logan, Mingo, and Wayne counties; 51 roads in Calhoun, Jackson, Pleasants, Ritchie, Roane, Wirt, and Roane counties; 79 roads in Doddridge, Harrison, Marion, Monongalia, Preston, and Taylor counties; 46 roads in Berkeley, Grant, Hampshire, Hardy, Jefferson, Mineral, and Morgan counties; 15 roads in Brooke, Hancock, Marshall, Ohio, Tyler, and Wetzel counties; 43 roads in Barbour, Braxton, Gilmer, Lewis, Upshur, and Webster counties; 42 roads in Pendleton, Pocahontas, Randolph, and Tucker counties; 17 roads in Fayette, Greenbrier, Monroe, Nicholas, and Summers counties; and 68 roads in McDowell, Mercer, Raleigh, and Wyoming counties.
