West Virginia Public Broadcasting
Telling West Virginia's Story
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…
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.
TRIP Report
Recently a report was released by TRIP, a private national transportation research nonprofit out of Washington, DC.
The organization is sponsored by insurance companies, equipment manufacturers, distributors and suppliers; businesses involved in highway and transit engineering and construction; labor unions; and other organizations concerned with surface transportation.
It’s the second report in the last five years that investigates the nation’s rural transportation system. Their data indicates that nationally, since their last report in 2011:
In West Virginia:
“Rural transportation has a traffic fatality rate nearly triple all other roads in the country,” says Rocky Moretti, the director of policy and research with TRIP.
He says, typically rural roads don’t have a lot of the safety features that are desirable—things that can have a significant impact making rural roads safer like:
Federal Funding Shortfall
In West Virginia, we skate a thin line financially as the state maintains the 6th-largest highway system in the country. It’s a fact understood all too well by Mike Clowser, executive director of the Contractor’s Association of West Virginia. He says current federal shortfalls in highway funding are threatening road construction jobs.
Currently in West Virginia, over 200 federally funded Department of Highways contracts are underway, employing thousands of workers. Clowser says West Virginia is the only state he knows of that has no backup plan in the event that the federal dollars dry up.
Clowser reports the Department of Highways is giving contractors two options in light of the shortfall:
Clowser says the House has already passed a bill that addresses the shortfall and the Senate is in the process of working on a plan, but that time is running out before Congress goes to recess on the 1st of August, leaving states to scramble during the height of construction season.
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.
“The Highway Trust Fund, which is the source that we as a nation use to pay for road, bridge and highway systems across the country, is on the brink of insolvency,” he said.
The bill Foxx is referring to, the federal Highway Trust Fund, will expire August 1.
Without it, Secretary Mattox says West Virginia will have to delay or cancel more than 200 construction projects. That amounts to about $240 million in highway construction.
Foxx has worked with some members to create a long term fix, what he’s calling the Grow America Act. The legislation provides funding for infrastructure for the next four years by utilizing the current gas tax, but also raises additional funds in new ways.
His bill calls for federal business tax reform, taxing corporations for overseas profits then utilizing those funds for infrastructure development at home.
“I think to be realistic, it’s going to be another one year patch,” Rockefeller said of Foxx’s proposed long-term solution.
“I’m on the Finance Committee and we’ve been meeting constantly to try to figure out a long term funding proposal, but when it comes to signing their name on the commitment to raising the funds, the enthusiasm decreases because of the climate and the fear in Washington today.”
“Congress is going to act,” Congressman Rahall said, more optimistic than Rockefeller.
“While it may be a temporary extension, what is important to keep in mind is we’re not going to allow interruptions of funds to the states that will slow down or kill construction projects.”
All four men stressed the importance of federal funds to improve West Virginia’s system.
Mattox said he’s in talks with the governor about a possible special legislative session later in the year devoted to infrastructure issues. He said, though, that session can’t happen until the federal government finalizes its plans for funding.
FirstEnergy Corp. is planning $110 million worth of infrastructure upgrades in West Virginia this year. Ohio-based FirstEnergy said Thursday that the…
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.
FirstEnergy’s president of West Virginia operations, Holly Kauffman, says in a news release that the projects are designed to help reduce the number and duration of potential outages and to prepare for future growth.
FirstEnergy subsidiary Mon Power serves about 385,000 customers in 34 West Virginia counties.
