We loudly applaud the announcement from West Virginia’s congressional delegation of renewed transportation funds for projects such as the King Coal Highway and the Coalfields Expressway

A joint funding resolution that will keep the government operating through the end of the fiscal year while also providing a boost to area highway projects was approved Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Nick Rahall, D-W.Va., said.

Rahall worked with Sen. Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va., chairman of the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee, in drafting the legislation that provides for the full funding of highway, transit, and highway safety programs in fiscal year 2007 as authorized by the 2005 highway bill that Rahall helped engineer.

Working with Byrd, Rahall said he helped secure an annual average of $404 million in the bill specifically for West Virginia’s transportation needs over the next five years, including $38 million for the King Coal Highway and $16.7 million for the Coalfields Expressway. The bill also includes $1.8 million for the Shawnee Parkway.

We are grateful to Byrd and Rahall in helping to restore and appropriate critical funds for the King Coal Highway, the Coalfields Expressway and the Shawnee Parkway.

We expect to see dirt moving again — and soon — on the King Coal Highway in Bluefield and the Coalfields Expressway in Welch. Members of the King Coal Highway Authority board were scheduled to meet Thursday in Charleston at the offices of Secretary of Transportation Paul A. Mattox Jr.
With continued and renewed federal funding assistance from Byrd and Rahall, we can and must proceed with the awarding of bids and the actual construction on the next $20 million bridge project in Bluefield, which would connect with the existing K.A. Ammar Interchange in Bluefield, and bring the four-lane interstate corridor one important step closer to Route 123 and the Mercer County Airport, as well as the proposed second interchange site near the airport.

With the continued support of our state’s congressional delegation, this is a goal that can and must be accomplished. It is absolutely critical that we resume construction on the Coalfields Expressway and the King Coal Highway.

We would also like to see renewed progress on the scenic Shawnee Parkway project. This can be accomplished through the new Democratic leadership in Washington, and particularly through the guidance and supervision of Byrd and Rahall.

We welcome the restoration of funds for the King Coal Highway, the Coalfields Expressway and the Shawnee Parkway. Now, it’s time to start moving dirt again on our new four-lane highways in Bluefield and hopefully Welch.