Gov. Justice asked the Legislature to approve the extra funding during the first special legislative session in May. The money is in addition to $190 received by the WVDOH in federal highway funds.
“Signing Senate Bill 1102 is a huge win for our roads, our people, and West Virginia,” said Gov. Justice. “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 the WVDOH to pave the roads West Virginians drive every day. The special funding is on top of approximately $190 million in federal highway funds.
“Once again, our Governor has led from the front,” said West Virginia Transportation Secretary Jimmy Wriston, P.E. “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 Gov. Justice took office in 2017, he made highway maintenance and construction a major cornerstone of his administration. Gov. 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.
Knowing that federal highway funding can only go so far and only pave so many miles of road, since 2017 over $816 million of surplus funds has been delivered to WVDOH to repair and improve West Virginia’s roadways.
“The WVDOH is thankful and excited to receive this funding,” said Joe Pack, P.E., WVDOH Chief Engineer of Operations and District 1 Engineer. He said the supplemental funding will resurface roads that might otherwise have taken years to get to.
“These projects will also reduce future maintenance costs in patching these roadways,” Pack said. “This will allow WVDOH maintenance forces to focus on other maintenance issues around the state.”
Since 2020, surplus budget appropriations have paved 3,812 miles of road above and beyond those paved with federal highway funds. Those roads would not have been paved without help from Gov. Justice and the state Legislature.
In all, this year’s supplemental budget appropriation will pay for 499 paving projects on more than 973 miles of road that aren’t covered by federal highway funds.
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