Infrastructure

Update Monday January 26, 2015 at 9:11 p.m. 

  Water samples taken from the Greenbrier River did not show dangerous levels of diesel, the Charleston Gazette is reporting.

This means the water intakes will be turned back on to refill the tanks and restore water pressure.

Earlier today, Al Whitaker said that after the intakes are turned on, residents will be boil water advisory for at least three days.

While the chemical spill in Charleston left 300-thousand people without access to clean water, folks in the coalfields deal with water issues every day.  We heard from folks in McDowell communities living off dated water systems that frequently go without water. Some communities have been on boil water advisories for years.

While the chemical spill in Charleston left more than 300,000 without usable water, it's a problem that folks in the coalfields deal with on a regular basis.

Mountainous regions like southern West Virginia have an abundance of water, but the terrain along with aging infrastructure create challenges, just as it has for decades.

A municipal ordinance to limit heavy traffic through the downtown district of Morgantown has been declared “unenforceable” in Kanawha Circuit Court.

In a unanimous vote last night, Morgantown City Council decided to delay implementation of an ordinance that would ban certain truck traffic in the city’s downtown district.

A group is working to create a transportation plan for Raleigh and Fayette Counties. The Metropolitan   Planning Organization, or MPO, is working to identify transportation investments needed to move the region forward.

The MPO office is federally and state funded but it’s made up of local governments, business leaders, and others. The group is responsible for long range transportation planning.

A ceremony celebrating the effort to ensure quality drinking water for a community in Southern West Virginia was hosted on Tuesday.

The ceremony marked a milestone for the Bud/Alpoca Water System Upgrade Project. The upgrade ensures that an estimated 170 residential and commercial customers in the communities of Bud and Alpoca, in Wyoming County will have safe drinking water.

A series of informational gatherings are underway about a proposed 550-mile gas pipeline called the Atlantic Coast Pipeline. Dominion Resources is sponsoring the events.

A bridge commemorating a village settled in Summers County in 1772, is being replaced. But the project is providing more than just a new bridge for vehicle traffic.

Morgantown City Council passed an ordinance 6-1 that limits heavy trucks traveling through the city's downtown area along State Route 7.

We often hear about urban cities, like Detroit, that are dealing with abandoned, dilapidated buildings. But some communities in West Virginia are struggling with neighborhood blight too.

The WV Hub is working with partners across West Virginia to plan a three day event in Huntington this October. The summit will help people across West Virginia who are working to fix blighted, abandoned and dilapidated properties. Civic groups in Huntington have been collaborating on this type of work and have made great strides recently.

The chairman of the Governor's Blue Ribbon Commission on Highways says the group will release its final report in late September almost a year after its initially set release date.

Jason Pizatella tells the Charleston Gazette the report is undergoing proofreading and editing.

Gov. Tomblin created the Blue Ribbon Commission nearly two years ago with the goal of issuing recommendations on how to better fund the state’s roadways. Commission members approved their recommendations in September of 2013, but the final report was delayed.

Lincoln County has been awarded more than a million dollars by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to extend clean water services in the county.

The rural development grant completes a multi-million dollar financial package for the Lincoln County project.

Congressman Nick Rahall's office announced the funding yesterday and says the project will serve an additional 81 families in the Lower Mud River area.

A bridge linking Parkersburg and Belpre, Ohio, is shutting down for repairs. The Memorial Bridge will close Monday. Repairs are expected to be completed in two weeks.

 The $182,000 project includes replacing an expansion join and about 400 square feet of concrete deck.

 The bridge spanning the Ohio River opened in 1954. 

More research has surfaced indicating the abysmal state of rural infrastructure these days, especially in West Virginia, and shortfalls in federal funding for highway maintenance could make the problem worse as well as leave many road workers filing for unemployment.

U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx sat at a table with Senator Rockefeller, Congressman Nick Rahall and West Virginia DOT Secretary Paul Mattox in the main hall of the state Culture Center in Charleston.

He came to West Virginia to talk about infrastructure and the funding it will take to fix an aging system not just in West Virginia, but across the country. That funding, though, as Foxx said, is stuck in Washington.

FirstEnergy Corp. is planning $110 million worth of infrastructure upgrades in West Virginia this year.
 

Ohio-based FirstEnergy said Thursday that the projects include transmission improvements, construction of new distribution lines, and replacement of underground cables, utility poles and other equipment.