MORGANTOWN — Gov. Jim Justice came to Morgantown Wednesday to announce the beginning of the 2022 road paving season.
Justice made the announcement in the parking lot of the Pierpont Church of the Nazarene gym. He was flanked by a Roadtec highway asphalt paver and a Case drum roller — in place to start paving Harner Run Road — and joined by Transportation Secretary Jimmy Wriston and Division of Highways Distrct 4 workers.
District 4 Maintenance Assistant Earl Gaskins opened the event, commenting on the positive impact of Roads to Prosperity and the loyal DOH crews. “It takes teamwork to make any kind of progress,” he said. “They show up every single day to make sure that our roads and our communities are better.”
Justice also praised the DOH crews. “You make it happen and you make it all go together.”
The 2022 season, he said, will see 266 projects across all 55 counties, with more than 800 miles resurfaced at a cost of $208 million. And that doesn’t count Roads to Prosperity projects.
Since 2019, he said, each year, the state has broken the prior record for road maintenance miles: 30,000 miles in 2019; 39,000 miles in 2020; 47,000 miles in 2021; and this year they’re planning 51,000 miles worth of road maintenance.
From January through March, he said, DOH completed 6,429 road projects across 6,698 miles: 6,347 secondary road maintenance projects; 53 Roads To Prosperity projects; 14 slide repairs; nine paving projects; and six bridge projects.
Looking back to 2019, he said, “Our roads were a dog’s mess and we’ve really started to really turn it around.” It’ll take time. “You can’t build them all back on day one.”
He reflected on the state’s growth in various areas, including tourism. “You can’t do it without the roads,” he said.
Wriston also praised DOH personnel and said there’s lots more work to do. At the moment, he said, there are 701 active construction projects worth more than $3 billion.
And they’re waiting for Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act money to arrive so they can do even more. “Every plan you see on our website,” Wriston said, “it’s only going to get bigger.”
They’re planning, among other things, a $500 million bridge program across five years and an electric vehicle charging network, plus more resurfacing.
Before bringing out Babydog for her much-anticipated appearance, Justice reminded everyone that DOH workers put their lives at risk as they work along the highways and urged all to slow down. “The least we can do is respect them as we’re going though these work zones.”
You can find the DOH roadwork plan maps at https://transportation.wv.gov/Pages/WVDOT-Projects.aspx.
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