Governor Jim Justice and WVDOT Secretary Jimmy Wriston P.E. announced that over 800 miles-worth of roadways will be resurfaced this year, with projects taking place in all 55 counties across the state. These projects alone will add up to $208 million-worth of improvements to West Virginia’s roads.
“Those numbers are just for projects that are purely resurfacing projects,” Justice said. “That doesn’t even include all the additional dollars for paving work that will be going into several other major projects through the Roads To Prosperity program.”
Justice and Wriston also unveiled the WVDOT’s 2022 Statewide Interactive Roadwork Map, marking the fourth year that West Virginians will be able to access this online tool and see what roads near them are scheduled to be improved this year.
Despite asphalt plants only recently opening for the spring, the WVDOT’s Division of Highways (DOH) has already been hard at work, getting a jump on road maintenance work, even through the winter months.
Through just the first three months of 2022, a total of 6,429 road projects – spanning 6,698 miles – have already been completed. Among the projects completed to date are 6,347 secondary road maintenance projects, 53 Roads To Prosperity projects, 14 slide repairs, nine paving projects, and six bridge projects.
The increased capability to complete maintenance projects is directly attributable to Gov. Justice’s Roads To Prosperity program.
Since the overwhelming majority of West Virginians voted to implement the Governor’s program, several successful road bond sales have freed up monies, normally committed to highway projects, that can instead be used on secondary road maintenance projects.
In addition to the increased maintenance efforts, over $1 billion worth of major infrastructure improvement projects through Roads To Prosperity have either been completed or are currently underway.
“The governor’s Roads To Prosperity program turned this state around. It saved the state. We were upside-down until we sold those road bonds. Now look at where we are today,” Wriston said.
