The West Virginia Department of Transportation will be seeking approval in 2008 of legislation to authorize public-private transportation partnerships and will be continuing to outline the severe financial constraints facing the state’s Road Fund. That was the message delivered early this summer to the WVBT Board by WVDOT Secretary Paul Mattox. Mattox provided the new directors with a stark outlook for the financial situation facing his department. He noted that WVDOT is responsible providing all road, bridge and highway maintenance and construction in the West Virginia, as well as the vast majority of road and highway repaving that takes place. And, this is done without any local funding.
Secretary Mattox expressed gratitude to WVBT and lawmakers for the transportation-related legislation enacted during the 2007 session, and he noted that the resulting additional funds will be the first increase in the state Road Fund since 1994. However, Mattox said these increases are only a “bump” in what is needed, and that inflation will quickly eat away at these increases. Mattox said West Virginia will need to find other sources of revenues in order to meet the staggering list of construction projects that communities want and need. The Secretary said every idea must be put on the table – “everything needs to be given due consideration,” including privatization (toll roads) where it may be feasible and workable.
If West Virginia continues to rely on the existing state and federal funding sources, “nothing new will get built,” he stated. “Major new highway and bridge construction will require new revenues.” Worse still, Mattox said his department doesn’t have enough funds to meet the state’s paving needs. He noted that the state’s existing paving program – about $125 million a year – is only half of what is needed. Mattox said local governments need to be focus on the state’s transportation challenges and help develop new sources of revenue.
The Secretary used several highway projects to illustrate the financial situation. At current funding levels, it will take 30 years to finish Corridor H; 160 years to build the Coalfields Expressway; 200 years to build the King Coal Highway; 126 years to build the Tolsia Highway; etc. He projected that many of these programs likely will never be built given the current funding sources.
Mattox said his department plans to set a baseline of the state’s current transportation system and to outline what is needed to maintain it. He also announced his department is planning to hold a series of public meetings about WVDOT’s transportation plan and its prioritization of projects.