CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- If all goes according to plan -- and there is no significant public outcry -- bonds to complete U.S. 35 as a four-lane toll road could go to market as early as mid-October, Transportation Secretary Paul Mattox said Thursday. "Construction work could start next spring," he said of the final 14.6-mile segment to complete the upgrade of the highway through Putnam and Mason counties.
Mattox made the comments after updating the state Parkways Authority on a new state law that gives Parkways the authority to operate additional toll roads around the state. The law goes into effect July 1. He told authority members that Transportation is currently working with traffic engineers to come up with traffic projections for a four-lane U.S. 35, in order to determine likely toll revenues -- and toll charges -- for the highway. Those revenue projections will be critical to determine the amount of bonds that can be sold to build the final section of the four-lane highway.
"We will be working very closely with this board, and will keep you updated on the progress we're making on the Route 35 project," Mattox told authority members.
Mattox noted that, under the new law, any toll road projects must be endorsed by all county commissions along the route, and must have public support. "There's a lot of stipulations for new toll roads," he said. "You have to have support of the local county commissions. You have to have local support. If the public doesn't want the project, the project probably isn't going there."
In addition to authorizing the Parkways Authority to operate additional toll roads elsewhere in the state, the new law will add new members to the authority from the northern and central parts of the state.
When the bill was being debated during the 2010 regular session, Mattox noted that the U.S. 35 expansion is one of only a few highway projects in the state that could generate enough traffic to justify operating as a toll road.
The new law will also place the West Virginia section of the Mon-Fayette Expressway, linking Interstate 68 east of Morgantown with Pittsburgh, under the authority's control. That will be the second toll road in the state when it opens later this year, although the first toll plaza on the expressway will be on the Pennsylvania side of the state line.