As local officials look toward a February vote on a $2-a-week service fee to pay for new and improved roads in Morgantown, state leaders are calling for new ways to fund highway projects.
Joe Deneault, chairman of West Virginians for Better Transportation, said the state of transportation funding in West Virginia has reached a “crisis.” State leaders will have to prepare for the day when new revenues will have to be generated or services severely scaled back.
“You haven’t seen ... the roads falling apart or bridges falling down, but we believe that’s just a matter of time,” Deneault said.
West Virginians for Better Roads hosted a transportation forum recently at the Waterfront Place Hotel in Morgantown. It was the fourth of seven forums being held around the state to raise awareness of the problem of transportation funding in the state.
West Virginia has about $1 billion every year to spend on road projects, Deneault said, of which half comes from the federal government and the rest from state sources. But the state Division of Highways estimates that the 170 projects currently on the drawing board would cost $20 billion to fund.
Deneault said that funding for roads is projected to decline in the next five years, while costs for construction and maintenance go up. And he said that the use of roads will continue to increase, causing more need for maintenance and construction of roadways.
Deneault offered a variety of ways to increase revenues. He said ideas such as higher gasoline taxes, toll roads and service fees such as the $2 road fee proposed in Monongalia County all have merit.
But he said his organization doesn’t advocate for any specific proposals. He said that it’s up to the legislators and citizens to decide what is the best way to deal with the problem.
“What we think is important is that there be a debate, and that won’t happen until people believe there is a problem,” Deneault said. “Either you get less, or you find a way to generate more resources.”
Chet Parsons, director of the Greater Morgantown Metropolitan Transportation Planning Organization, said that the issues of transportation funding presented at the forum are very familiar.
The MPO dealt with similar issues in its recent 25-year transportation plan that showed that state funding will not be readily available to deal with the county’s transportation woes.
The MPO and County Commission have proposed a $2 weekly service fee to pay for roads within the county. The fee will come up for a vote Feb. 2.
Parsons said that many of the possible solutions for transportation funding have been talked about locally, and he is glad to see a statewide organization letting people know about funding problems.
“In terms of education, they can talk as much as they want to,” Parsons said.
Morgantown City Council member Jenny Selin said she wanted to ensure that state and federal representatives would support Morgantown if voters accept the $2 fee.
Selin said that like many people, she fears that the state government will see that Monongalia County is paying for its own roads and cut back on the county’s share of the road funding.
“I would hope the federal government would notice that if we’re trying to help ourselves,” Selin said, “they would kick in some matching monies.”
Rep. Alan Mollohan, D-W.Va., offered his own views on the transportation funding at the forum. He said that he recognized that funding for roads and other transportation is becoming more precarious, both at the state and federal levels.
Mollohan hesitated to talk about raising taxes to pay for roads, but he said that without new resources, it’s going to be hard to meet the needs for transportation in the future.
Mollohan said that funding transportation comes down to deciding what priorities to pay for, given the limited funding available. He said that lawmakers should give precedence to those projects that promote economic development and diversification.
Though he said that while he does represent northern West Virginia, the local area should get more funding. He said that Morgantown and the technology corridor should get support because they offer the greatest potential for economic diversification.
“Morgantown is a virtual wellspring for economic diversification,” Mollohan said. “WVU is increasingly becoming a sophisticated research institution and ... is one of the best places in a technology economy to derive that diversification.
OTHER FORUMS sponsored by West Virginians for Better Transportation are scheduled for Tuesday in Martinsburg, Oct. 30 in Bluefield and Nov. 14 in Wheeling. Info: wvbt.org.