HARRISON COUNTY, WV – Today, Gov. Jim Justice joined leaders with the West Virginia Department of Transportation for an event at North Central West Virginia Airport, where he announced that more than $20 million will be spent on paving projects, all across the state, as part of the Governor’s Roads To Prosperity initiative.
“Not only are we going to complete $20 million-worth of paving projects, but we’re aiming to complete them within 45 days,” Gov. Justice said. “It’s absolutely unbelievable and I’m so proud of our Department of Transportation and all we’ve been able to accomplish thanks to our groundbreaking Roads To Prosperity program.”
An interactive online map of the new paving projects will be available on the WVDOT’s website in the coming days.
During today’s event at NCWV Airport, Gov. Justice, WVDOT Secretary Byrd White, and Deputy Secretary Jimmy Wriston announced several new paving projects scheduled to take place over the next 45 days in North Central West Virginia. A total of $2.6 million in paving work will be completed within the West Virginia Division of Highways’ District 4 counties of Doddridge, Harrison, Marion, Monongalia, Preston, and Taylor.
In just the past 16 months, more than 300 miles of District 4 roadways have been paved. Additionally, more than 3,000 miles-worth of patching has been completed in District 4 in the same timeframe.
Gov. Justice added that, over the past year, the State has spent tens of millions of dollars on new maintenance vehicles and equipment, housed all across West Virginia, allowing Highways crews to fix more roads, faster than ever.
“We’ve already done an incredible amount of work. But, you know, as West Virginians, there’s an incredible amount we can still do,” Gov. Justice said. “No matter where you live, you’re going to see orange cones and those orange cones are going to lead to new blacktop and a nicer ride.”
The anticipated completion date for the new statewide paving projects is late September 2020.
“Gov. Justice’s vision to make our roads better and his leadership in transportation infrastructure has not only allowed us to deliver on our goals for fixing the roads, but has also allowed Secretary White and myself to restructure and get out even more projects,” Deputy Secretary Wriston said. “It’s been a tough year as we’ve also had to adjust to the challenges brought forth by COVID-19. But we are staying busier than ever for the people of West Virginia and we are committed to getting this work done safely and efficiently.”
Before today’s event announcing the new statewide paving projects, Gov. Justice took time to meet with members of the North Central West Virginia Airport’s Board of Directors to discuss progress on a historic infrastructure project at the airport, originally announced last August.
As part of that project, in May, the airport announced the start of construction on a new terminal. Following an initial phase of excavation work, the project is set to begin in the coming months and is expected to take a year to complete.
