CHARLESTON - More than one-third of West Virginia’s roads are in poor or mediocre condition, 37 percent of the state’s bridges are deficient, and its traffic fatality rate is the third highest in the nation. And according to a new report entitled “Future Mobility in West Virginia: Meeting the State’s Need for Safe and Efficient Mobility,” the state faces a transportation funding shortfall of $5 billion over the next ten years. Unless West Virginia can address this funding gap, many sorely needed transportation projects will remain unfunded.
According to TRIP, a Washington, DC, based nonprofit organization that researches, evaluates and distributes information on highway transportation issues, eight percent of West Virginia’s roads are in poor condition and an additional 29 percent are in mediocre condition. Driving on roads in need of repair costs each West Virginia motorist an average of $280 annually - $371 million state-wide – in the form of accelerated vehicle depreciation, additional repair costs, and increased fuel consumption and tire wear. The report contains a list of needed roadway repair and reconstruction projects throughout the state that currently lack adequate funding to proceed.
Fifteen percent of the state’s bridges (20 feet or longer) are structurally deficient and another 22 percent are functionally obsolete. The TRIP report contains a list of the 25 bridges in the state with the lowest sufficiency rating, for which repairs are not scheduled through 2009.
“This report shows that West Virginia has enormous deficiencies in road and bridge funding,” said Joe Denault, chairman of the West Virginians for Better Transportation. “The federal stimulus package will not make as big of an impact as we had hoped. And with a projected deficit of $5 billion in surface transportation needs over the next 10 years, we believe it is critically important for the Governor, legislature and Department of Transportation to come together and develop a long-term funding solution for our roads, bridges and highways.”
Copyright 2009 West Virginia Media.