KINGWOOD — Preston Commissioner Craig Jennings wants to take State Transportation Secretary Tom Smith on a tour of the road to Rowlesburg.
One lane of a section of W.Va. 72 between Rowlesburg and Kingwood collapsed this spring, during heavy rains. Since then, the berm has been widened on the other side and stop lights put up to control traffic, but nothing has been done to fix the road. Other roads into Rowlesburg are also bad, Jennings said.
“Rowlesburg’s got to have something done over there or Salt Lick’s going to be the only way in and out before long,” Jennings said at Monday’s commission meeting.
“I know [the Division of Highways] is aware of it, but that can’t wait for another year,” he said.
Jennings asked County Administrator Kathy Mace to contact Smith and set a date, “between now and Christmas,” when he will come to Preston County and take a drive with Jennings to Rowlesburg.
Preston Emergency Management/911 Director Duane Hamilton said he spoke with the state about the road and was told that it was a federal highway, which means more must be done before it can be fixed.
“That’s the same stupid answer I get every time,” Jennings said. “Now apparently it’s every road that anybody’s ever looked at has got a federal dollar in it and our own DOH guys can’t do it.”
“If they’re getting all this federal money, why aren’t the roads in better shape?” Commissioner Don Smith wondered.
Hamilton said his office was told by the state 72, “probably wasn’t going to get any worse, and probably within a week the cones actually fell in the hole.”
Commissioner Dave Price repeated information from the DOH he passed on at an earlier commission meeting, that core drilling was being done and then a plan would be developed.
“They’ve got to come up with something in the meantime, or like I said, you’re not going to be able to get in and out of Rowlesburg by January,” Jennings said.
The Dominion Post reported Oct. 24 that the DOH said it had received Federal Highway Administration Detailed Damage Inspection Report authorization and was beginning to design a permanent repair at the collapsed area. No timeline had been set for when actual work would begin.
Also at Monday’s meeting, commissioners:
- approved hiring Rhonda Farkas of Tunnelton and Stefanie Street of Aurora as 911 telecommunicators at $13 per hour. Another recent hire did not complete training, Hamilton said. About one in four hired completes the full training, he said, and it takes about four years for people to be fully trained.
- approved County Clerk Linda Huggins applying for two grants, each with a 10 percent match. The $10,000 application is to continue digitizing records and a $5,000 grant would allow for conservation of old records.
- learned from Mace that the elevator in the courthouse annex is out of service. Because of this, the county health department will bring flu vaccinations to people in their cars, if they desire them. Other offices in the annex will also make accommodations for those who cannot climb the steps.
