Infrastructure

State officials are urging West Virginians to get out and vote during Saturday’s special election.

West Virginia voters are being asked to approve the sale of $1.6 billion in general obligation bonds. The bonds are part of Governor Jim Justice’s roads infrastructure spending plan.

More than two million people across the Ohio Valley live in areas that lack any option for fast and reliable internet service. This week some of them had a chance to tell a member of the Federal Communications Commission what that means for their work, studies, and everyday life.

Gov. Jim Justice has signed legislation allowing the West Virginia Parkways Authority to increase the tolls on the state turnpike and create a new single fee program in the name of a bond to fund new road projects in southern West Virginia.

The bill is part of his roads package, a set of bills and bond initiatives that will boost revenue for road maintenance and construction and in turn, according to the governor, create jobs.

The Charleston area has lost construction jobs at the second-fastest rate in the nation according to a survey from the Associated General Contractors of America.

A representative of the national group presented the results of the survey of 358 metro areas at the Capitol Wednesday, accompanied by West Virginia Department of Transportation Secretary Tom Smith.

The Wheeling City Council is considering an ordinance that would establish a three-story minimum building height for new structures in the downtown district.

City council members heard the first reading of the ordinance during a meeting Tuesday. Officials say the requirement would only apply to new buildings and doesn't address the 10-story maximum height restriction.

Members of the West Virginia Parkways Authority are supporting the continuation of tolls on the West Virginia Turnpike, doubling down on a resolution to that effect passed in January.

The tolls are set to expire in May of 2019, when the bonds on the road’s construction will be paid off.

In a legislative interim meeting this week in Charleston lawmakers questioned officials from the state Department of Transportation and the Division of Highways about everything from current practices to choices in legal representation. 

The hearing came in response to ongoing lawsuits - one where federal charges have been filed against state Division of Highways employees in an alleged bribery scheme, and another involving an alleged monopoly that's inflating asphalt prices in the state.

A recent breakdown at an Ohio River dam served as a wake-up call about the aging infrastructure that keeps river commerce flowing. The Ohio is one of the country’s busiest working rivers and some navigation controls are approaching the century mark. I went to see these ailing structures and a new multi-billion dollar project in the works.

Critical Stretch of River

Another 8 mile section of Corridor H is officially open for traffic today after a ribbon cutting ceremony in Tucker County.

Governor Earl Ray Tomblin was joined by U.S. Senator Joe Manchin, Department of Transportation Secretary Paul Mattox and others as they cut the blue ribbon stretched across the roadway. 

Clay County residents are speaking out against the closure of a bridge damaged during the June floods.

People rallied Sunday at the Camp Creek Bridge, voicing their displeasure about the closure.

Last month, the state Division of Highways announced that the 91-year-old bridge would be shut down to vehicle traffic, but remain open for foot traffic.

The U.S. Senate will vote this week on a $9 billion water bill that West Virginia Senator Shelley Moore Capito defended on the chamber floor Tuesday.

The Water Resources Development Bill is expected to pass with almost no opposition from the Republican controlled chamber.