Funding allocated by lawmakers in the new budget for a variety of regional road authorities such as the King Coal Highway and the Coalfields Expressway could be moved from the Transportation Department to the Department of Commerce.

In so doing, Transportation Secretary Paul Mattox has stated that more cash will be available for existing road needs in a state system covering some 36,000 miles. "We want our state road money going into building up the state’s road fund," Mattox said last week. "We’re trying to put as much money in the state fund into construction, resurfacing, replacing small bridges and fixing slides. We’re taking care of the existing highways that we’re responsible for."

Commerce Secretary Kelly Goes says the intent of the proposed move isn’t to deny money to the special authorities, which also include the Shawnee Parkway and Midland Trail Scenic Highway.

Goes said Gov. Joe Manchin has requested that the Department of Commerce work with authorities "to establish what their needs are, where the money will be spent and what the results are."

While we have no problems with a move to ensure that sufficient, transparent funding is available for construction, resurfacing, replacing small bridges and fixing slides, we absolutely cannot accept a denial of highway funding for the King Coal Highway Authority or the Coalfields Expressway Authority.

Needless to say, both authorities have been working tirelessly in recent years to ensure the construction — and the availability of additional federal funds — for the two four-lane highway corridors that are critical to the future of southern West Virginia.

Delegate Richard Browning, executive director of the Coalfields Expressway, said last week that he is working with his board to devise a plan for the Economic Development Office, guaranteeing that those projects receive their share of the $900,000 Manchin is diverting.

"If we do get the funding, then it should be a blip for us," Browning, D-Wyoming, said.

"We’re going to keep doing business as usual" he said. "If we get a seamless transaction to the Development Office, we shouldn’t do anything at all different. We plan to meet with Development Office officials and see what the new scenario is going to be."

The state Development Office is one of eight agencies under Department of Commerce.

In a meeting last month, Browning said, Manchin assured him "that things were OK."

In addition to the Coalfields Expressway, Browning’s authority is working on various economic development projects in a three county region, including the popular Hatfield-McCoy Trail in Pineville, the John D. Rockefeller IV Industrial Park in Wyoming County and the Indian Ridge Industrial Park in McDowell County — which will serve as the location of a new federal prison for Welch.

Browning said the only problems envisioned for the future is seeing the state come up with its required 20 percent match for federal dollars. "We’re strapped for dollars to match what we’re getting," Browning said. "We have spent two years working with Highways trying to come up with alternative funding sources. Frankly, that’s why the governor moved this out of the fund. He thinks it all should go to actual highway construction. And that’s not enough. We know we’re not getting enough to keep up with the need."

With every dollar vital, Mattox said the $900,000 translates into another nine miles of paving, based on the current cost of $100,000 per mile. "We’ll be able to pave another nine miles of highway with that money that previously would have gone to these authorities," he said.

We urge Mattox, and the Manchin administration, to exercise extreme caution when diverting funding if such a move could impact the future development or construction of the Coalfields Expressway and the King Coal Highway. The state must clarify what impact this move will have on the development of our critical four-lane corridors. Both projects are vital to our future and must be completed.

If funding diverted from the individual authorities has any negative impact on the future development of the King Coal Highway or the Coalfields Expressway, then southern West Virginia must aggressively demand a rethinking of such a plan.

Clearly, questions remain to be answered, and a guaranteed assurance that highway funding will be protected must be issued.