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February 19, 1999
The West Virginia State Senate today unanimously
passed House Concurrent Resolution 14
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The West Virginia State Senate today unanimously passed House Concurrent Resolution 14. The resolution requested the West Virginia delegation in the United States Congress to support and assist the incorporation of the Coalfields Expressway into the Appalachian Development Highway System, also known as the corridor system. The resolution directs the Clerk of the West Virginia House of Delegates to forward it to U. S. Senators Robert C. Byrd and John D. Rockefeller, IV, and U. S. Congressman Nick Rahall.
Sponsored in the House of Delegates by all the delegates representing Raleigh, Wyoming, and McDowell Counties, HCR 14 passed the House on Monday, February 15, and was sent to the Senate where it was referred to the Senate Committee on Transportation. The transportation committee took up the resolution on Wednesday, February 17, and passed it unanimously to the full Senate.
State Highways Commissioner Sam Beverage during a budget hearing before the Senate Finance Committee on February 2 during questioning from Senator Billy Wayne Bailey (D-Wyoming) stated that he thought the resolution was a good idea.
According to Richard Browning, Executive Director of the Coalfields Expressway Authority, the adoption of the Coalfields Expressway in to the Appalachian Development Highway System is needed because of funding and economic development issues.
"We received $50 million with the passage of the Intermodal Surface Transportation Equity Act (ISTEA) in 1991 and another $22.7 million with the passage of the Transportation Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21) seven years later in 1998 through the efforts of Senator Byrd and Congressman Rahall. Approximately $4 million of the total $72.7 million received has been spent getting the highway where it is today." Browning stated. "With an estimated $1 billion needed to complete the highway in the next 10 years, another funding stream is needed. The state is expected to provide a 20 percent match to the federal dollars, which means that approximately one-tenth of the funding needed to construct the highway is in the bank," Browning added.
The highway is also eligible for funding from a $750 million pool of money set aside in TEA 21 for twenty-nine high priority corridors in the country. Six of those high priority corridors are in West Virginia and the state this year applied for specific funding from that pool for the Tolsia Highway in Wayne County and the Mon-Fayette Expressway in Monongalia County. The state could also use some of its new construction dollars to build the highway, but those dollars are very competitive because of all the other new highway needs in the state, according to Browning.
Senator Byrd in last year's TEA 21 legislation successfully integrated funding for the corridor system into the federal highway trust fund. A federal tax of 18.4 cents per gallon on every gallon of gasoline sold and 24.4 cents per gallon on every gallon of diesel fuel sold makes up the bulk of this fund. With the passage of TEA 21 last year, the corridor system receives construction funds yearly from this trust fund.
The Coalfields Expressway will be constructed to the exact same specifications as the other Appalachian Development Highways in the state. If it were to be adopted into the Appalachian system, it would receive yearly funding from the trust fund, just as the other corridors in the state do.
The resolution cites economic development information contained in an economic impact study of the Appalachian Development Highways prepared for the Appalachian Regional Commission by Wilbur Smith Associates of Wilmington, NC. The press release for the report states that, "1,400 miles of modern highways in Appalachia are creating thousands of jobs, generating benefits that will exceed construction costs..."
U. S. Transportation Secretary Rodney E. Slater is also quoted in the press release saying, "This study confirms once again that transportation is about more than concrete, asphalt and steel. The Appalachian Development Highway System is providing opportunity for people in the region, especially in rural areas, to get to jobs, to schools and to market so that they can share fully in the economic and social benefits of this nation."
"This is the very reason we want to build this highway. Southern West Virginia has consistently been at or near the top of the unemployment lists in the state and nation for many years. The study shows that the construction of this road will cure that. It needs to be built now, and including it in the Appalachian Highway Development System will ensure that it will be constructed in a timely manner," Browning stated.
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