Highways
Division of Highways
The Division of Highways is responsible for planning, engineering, rights-of-way acquisition, construction, reconstruction, traffic regulation and maintenance of more than 35,000 miles of state roads. Additional duties include highway research, outdoor advertising contiguous to state roads, roadside development, safety and weight enforcement and dissemination of highway information.
West Virginia's highway agency dates back to 1917, when the Legislature established the State Road Commission. It was renamed the Department of Highways in 1969, and on July 1, 1989, legislative action created the Department of Transportation (DOT), integrating the agency as the Division of Highways.
Today, the Division manages the sixth-largest state-maintained highway network in the nation. Because West Virginia is one of only four states without county or township road ownership, the state builds and maintains nearly all public road miles, the highest share in the country. To oversee this infrastructure, the DOT employs more than 6,000 people across four agencies, with the Secretary of Transportation also serving as the Commissioner of Highways.
