On Monday, Sept. 12, 2022, Gov. Jim Justice called a special session of the West Virginia Legislature to request $150 million in supplemental funding for the West Virginia Division of Highways (WVDOH). Anticipating the Legislature would approve the budget request, the WVDOH has used a portion of the funding to pay for nearly $60 million in paving projects completed earlier this summer. “The WVDOH is very appreciative of Governor Justice and the Legislature's decision to allow this additional secondary road paving funding transfer,” said Joe Pack, P.E., WVDOH Chief Engineer of District Operations. “This allows us the opportunity to improve the roads for the citizens of West Virginia.” WVDOH maintenance crews did such a good job filling potholes and performing other maintenance on the state’s secondary roads in the spring that those roads were ready to be paved when the summer paving season started. Maintenance work outpaced the funding for paving.
Not wanting to lose a paving season, the WVDOH began paving those roads anyway, hoping that the Legislature would approve additional funding. So far, the WVDOH has completed paving on 289 miles of secondary roads in all 55 counties.
Roads paved so far and paid for through the supplemental budget appropriation include a $1 million paving project on Kellys Creek in Kanawha County, $900,000 in paving on Clear Fork Road in Raleigh County, $400,000 in paving on Sweetwater Road in Wayne County, $1.8 million in paving projects on US 250 and surrounding roads in the Belington and Philippi area in Barbour County, and $1.1 million to repave part of WV 2 in Marshall County.
Work has been completed on 164 of 343 planned projects and about 300 miles of new asphalt.
"We've got paving going on every day," Pack said. Paving projects to get underway soon include a $405,000 project on Cabin Creek Road in Kanawha County, $490,000 to pave Fink Creek Road in Lewis County, and $883,000 to pave WV 20 from Craigsville to Cottle Road in Nicholas County. Gov. Justice requested, and the West Virginia Legislature approved, $150 million in supplemental funding for the WVDOH. The money includes $125 million for paving projects and $25 million for new equipment. The WVDOH is using the money for an aggressive paving program that will pave more than 830 miles of the Mountain State’s roads.
For a complete list of projects to be paid for with the budget supplement, click here.
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