BRUCETON MILLS — “We’re going to fight to the end and see where it goes.”
With that battle cry, Jeanie Walsh, of We Stand For Better Roads, talked about the organization’s plans to go to Charleston Jan. 13.
The group, which gathered nearly 7,000 signatures on petitions demanding better roads in West Virginia, plans to be in the Senate chambers when Sen. Randy Smith makes his presentation on Randy’s Dream for Better Roads.
They will also be bringing along the yellow rubber ducks that became a symbol of the roads fight after someone took a photo of ducks swimming in a pothole.
Walsh calculated the petitions, strung end-to-end, are the length of two-and-a-half football fields.
“It’ll be like a long ribbon,” Walsh said.
“We just want to send a message to Charleston that we have a lot of dissatisfied people concerning the roads in our area,” Walsh said.
The group started small, an outgrowth of the North Preston Area Watch. It has grown to include much of the northern West Virginia counties, Walsh said.
“It’s shocking that there are so many roads that a great percentage of them are just horrible,” Walsh said.
She hastens to add that they believe because of the pressure they’ve brought to bear so far, the State Division of Highways has repaired several roads.
“The problem with that is they repair them like from late August through October, and some of those roads are now in worse condition than they were before they were repaired,” Walsh said.
“So that is a really concerning problem.”
Board the bus
There’s room for those who want to accompany the group to Charleston.
The Buckwheat Express bus will leave the North Preston Senior Center at 6:30 a.m. Jan. 13 and return about 5:30 p.m. The cost of the trip is $30 per person, which includes a Better Roads Team T-shirt. If you already have a shirt, the cost is $10.
Make reservations by sending a check payable to NPAW with “Better Roads” in the subject line. Send it to We Stand For Better Roads, P.O. Box 456, Bruceton Mills, WV 26525. Include your shirt size.
For more information, email zip26525@gmail.com or call 304-379-8018.
