WEST VIRGINIA’S transportation funding woes are about to get worse if something is not done soon. The state is failing to keep up with maintaining and repairing its current road, bridge and highway system.
Prospects appear dim for any hope for funds for new transportation construction projects needed across our rugged, mountainous terrain.
More immediate is the fact that West Virginia has one of the highest percentages of bridges that are either functionally obsolete or structurally deficient.
These are the messages that a statewide coalition is presenting to our state and local leaders as part of a series of regional meetings. West Virginians for Better Transportation (keepwvmoving.org) is a coalition of nearly 240 diverse organizations and companies that have joined in a united effort to educate policymakers and the public about the importance of maintaining a safe and modern surface transportation infrastructure.
This new coalition includes organizations representing large and small businesses, labor groups, health care, tourism, manufacturing, cities and counties, among others. The coalition’s reach goes from Weirton to Bluefield, from Charles Town to Huntington and all points in between.
Collectively, they recognize the importance that safe and modern roads, bridges and highways have to commerce, education, public safety, health services and our overall societal well-being.
West Virginia spends roughly $1 billion a year in state and federal dollars on its extensive system of roads, bridges and highways. The bulk of these funds come from taxes on gasoline, federal highway funds and taxes on vehicle purchases and licenses. Total funds available for West Virginia’s Road Fund are projected to start declining in the coming five years. The state Transportation Department estimates its already inadequate improvement fund will shrink from $168 million this fiscal year to $102 million in 2012, a 39 percent drop.
Worse still, skyrocketing prices for needed materials and commodities used in construction and maintenance are further cutting into the state’s road budget. Significant price increases are hitting petroleum-based asphalt, steel, concrete and aggregates.
Compounding this situation is the rapid aging of our state’s roads, bridges and highways. Within 20 years West Virginians will face some significant repair bills:
· 46 percent of the state’s interstate bridges will need significant repairs.
· The state will need to add additional lanes along 142 miles of its existing 555-mile interstate system to relieve traffic congestion.
· 63 percent of the state’s interstate highway system will be in need of significant rehabilitation or reconstruction.
This is on top of the current situation, where 27 percent of West Virginia’s major roads are in poor or mediocre condition and 37 percent of West Virginia bridges are structurally deficient or functionally obsolete.
The state Department of Transportation estimates that it needs $350 million more a year just for maintenance and construction work on the state’s existing transportation infrastructure. That leaves nothing for 170 high-priority new transportation projects that have an estimated price tag of $20 billion.
Transportation Secretary Paul Mattox has said publicly that West Virginia will need to find other sources of revenue in order to meet this staggering list of construction projects that communities want and need.
During a recent regional transportation session in Morgantown, I noted that state leaders soon will have to prepare for the day when new revenues will have to be generated or services will have to scaled back severely. We haven’t seen the roads falling apart or bridges falling down, but our coalition believes that’s just a matter of time.
This situation, if left unchecked, will have a serious, negative impact on the Division of Highways’ ability to maintain and ensure a safe and modern transportation infrastructure.
West Virginia’s leaders must focus on this crisis now, and all West Virginians in our different regions and communities must join in a discussion about what should be done to preserve and expand our state’s transportation network of roads, bridges and highways. We must determine how much we want to spend on transportation and how we are going to generate the necessary dollars.
West Virginians for Better Transportation will continue to spread the word and educate our citizens and leaders about the challenges facing the transportation industry — now and in the near future. We must act now to develop appropriate long-term solutions.
Deneault is chairman of West Virginians for Better Transportation and a former operations engineer at the state Division of Highways.