MORGANTOWN — If there were two takeaways from the March 30 visit from West Virginia Secretary of Transportation Tom Smith, they were: One, the days of inflexible bureaucracy from the West Virginia Division of Highways (DOH) are on the way out; and two, get ready to start seeing orange barrels in your sleep.
Smith, accompanied by leadership from DOH District 4, met with about a dozen or so state and local leaders, including elected officials and representatives of various municipal and county organizations at the Morgantown Municipal Airport.
The topics ranged from the oncoming waves of statewide road projects tied to last October’s passage of the road bond issue, to an examination of the DOH’s stance on local entities investing in and addressing issues with state routes, to the DOH’s problems attracting and keeping a work force due to low wages and outdated facilities and equipment.
District 4 Engineer Don Williams ran through a list of local projects that will likely get under way in the next 18 months or so, including:
A $1 million lighting project along Patteson Drive
A rebuilt overpass at I-68’s Pierpont exit (Exit 7)
The widening of the Mileground to five lanes
A complete overhaul and concrete replacement along W.Va. 705
A widening of Monongahela Boulevard between the Coliseum and the Star City Bridge, including a sidewalk and a bike lane
The continuation of work on Van Voorhis Road
Smith explained that the momentum provided by passage of the road bond issue — a constitutional amendment to allow the state to issue a total of $1.6 billion in bonds to fund transportation projects — has already had substantial impact, noting West Virginia’s jump from 49th to 1st in construction job growth according to statistics released by the Associated General Contractors.
“What a difference a year makes. In the space of one year, from June 23rd, when the legislature, at midnight, decided to give us some resources. By the time we roll around to June 23rd this year, we will have over $1 billion of new work out on the street all over the state,” Smith said.
“In about three more weeks you’re going to be saying ‘why did you guys get so much stuff started, there’s orange drums everywhere.’ You’re going to see more interstate work going in here in the next two or three months than you’ve seen in years and years and years. It really is an exciting time.”
