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Many may not be aware but WV uses a somewhat outdated formula for funding....It goes by road miles vs. population. Preston County is sparsely populated at around 30K countywide, but has the most road miles in the state. Since they are part of our district their road miles alone give them almost one half of the budget for the ENTIRE district. The other five counties, Mon Marion, Harrison, Taylor and Doddridge have to split the rest.
Here is an excerpt and link to article giving more detail. I didn't know this until this spring when I started doing some research into the problems.
Assistant Commissioner of Highways John McBrayer started by explaining how funding is developed for each of the districts at the state level. “There is a funding formula that includes paving, repairs, snow removal, etc.” McBrayer said. “The road miles in each county quota, along with expenses, are plugged into the formula, coming up with the budget.”
McBrayer also stated the formula used is at least 20 years old.
According to McBrayer, Preston County has an annual highway budget of $5.55 million. McBrayer also said Preston’s budget is nearly one-half of the budget for all of District 4 combined. District 4 is made up of six counties, which are Doddridge, Harrison, Marion, Monongalia, Preston and Taylor counties.
Looks like Mileground construction will finally start this summer and everything will be all done and wrapped up by late 2017 or mid 2018. First part that is going to happen is the realignment of easton hill to the traffic light. It is supposed to happen this summer and the hill will finally have 4 lanes of traffic. Next year sometime is the intersection at the airport and then finally expanding the commercial part of mileground to 5 lanes (4 through lanes and one turning lane). Easton hill will be the most expensive part of the construction project it looks like at about 14 Million.
I am bumping this thread up as a reminder of the District 4 meeting being held in Morgantown Monday 11/2/15. This is a great opportunity for citizens here to get their road concerns across to state officials. I am grateful Morgantown was chosen as the venue out of the 6 counties comprising this district.
The West Virginia Department of Transportation is soliciting public input for including these proposed projects — as well as other projects in the greater Morgantown-Monongalia metropolitan area — as part of the STIP at a public meeting to be held from 4-7 p.m. Monday, Nov. 2, at Mountain Line’s offices at 420 Dupont Road in Westover. The format for the public meeting is an open house walk-in meeting. Anyone interested in reviewing the projects and offering comments can stop by at any time during the meeting.
One of the issues I have mentioned on other threads regarding our road problems is that Charleston is not necessarily the "enemy". We have LOTS of other issues....I ran across this article from the Preston County Journal about this very same meeting and their complaints about it being held here. Apparently they even called the DOH to "complain" about their choosing Morgantown as a venue.
I don't understand this especially since so many in Preston County travel to Morgantown to make their living here. Based on that it would even be convenient for so many of their residents to attend a meeting here after work. Every county needs adequate funding and I have respect for those in Preston, but I feel this is uncalled for under the circumstances.
Many may not be aware but WV uses a somewhat outdated formula for funding....It goes by road miles vs. population. Preston County is sparsely populated at around 30K countywide, but has the most road miles in the state. Since they are part of our district their road miles alone give them almost one half of the budget for the ENTIRE district. The other five counties, Mon Marion, Harrison, Taylor and Doddridge have to split the rest.
Quote:
Originally Posted by WVUmatt
Looks like Mileground construction will finally start this summer and everything will be all done and wrapped up by late 2017 or mid 2018. First part that is going to happen is the realignment of easton hill to the traffic light. It is supposed to happen this summer and the hill will finally have 4 lanes of traffic. Next year sometime is the intersection at the airport and then finally expanding the commercial part of mileground to 5 lanes (4 through lanes and one turning lane). Easton hill will be the most expensive part of the construction project it looks like at about 14 Million.
Has anyone else heard of this project, or if/when it might happen? They just repaved West Run and I highly doubt they could fit a 4 lane split highway where the current road is, but boy would it be great if this was built.
It's dead in the water and has been since they built West Run up
Dang, that is what I was afraid of, I wasn't sure if this was a new project since it is on their website right now. Makes sense our state government doesn't update their website.
Dang, that is what I was afraid of, I wasn't sure if this was a new project since it is on their website right now. Makes sense our state government doesn't update their website.
That is a fairly outdated page. Some of the projects listed have already been completed or are currently off the table.
It might actually be too late for such a highway to connect both interstates simply because of the amount of development. Maybe simply having better access roads to both highways will solve that problem. Their isn't a massive need for a highway that simply connects people traveling through, as most people don't use 68 as an east/west route. Maybe one day, they can connect 79 with a spur off of the Mon/Fay expressway.
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Mon County Area Roads and Infrastructure
