Keep WV Moving -

WASHINGTON — A new federal highway authorization bill could provide a welcomed stimulus to the economy, according to U.S. Rep. Nick Rahall, D-W.Va. With the national unemployment rate soaring into the double digits for the first time since 1982, Rahall said a new federal highway bill could be just as beneficial to the region as a second stimulus package. “I think it puts more pressure on Congress to enact a highway reauthorization bill,” Rahall said when asked about the national unemployment rate hitting 10 percent. “It would put more money into our economy and put more people to work.” Rahall has requested funding for several projects in the region through the Fiscal Year 2010 Surface Transportation Project bill, including $16 million in funding for the proposed Colonial Intermodal Center project in Bluefield. Rahall already secured $600,000 in federal funding for preliminary planning and design work on the project earlier this year through the Fiscal Year 2010 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Appropriations Act. The transit center is planned near the site of the old Matz Hotel and Colonial Theater in downtown Bluefield. The intermodal center is proposed to consolidate current facilities that are geographically dispersed throughout the community Rahall also has requested $60 million in the new highway bill to continue construction of the King Coal Highway in Bluefield to the Mercer County Airport, and another $44 million for the interchange of the King Coal Highway and the Coalfields Expressway in Welch. The King Coal Highway and the Coalfields Expressway also still remain in the running for a second-round federal stimulus transportation dollars. A decision on the second round of federal stimulus transportation dollars could be made as early as February, according to an earlier report by King Coal Highway Executive Director Mike Mitchem.