PINEVILLE — In the state’s current six-year highway improvement plan, West Virginia’s 3rd Congressional District will get only half as much as districts 1 and 2.

Both districts 1 and 2 will get $1 billion each in the six-year plan, while the 3rd district will get just over $500 million.

The West Virginia Department of Transportation figures were provided at the request of Delegate Richard Browning, D-Wyoming, who serves as the executive director of the Coalfields Expressway Authority.

"I think the numbers show the 3rd Congressional District, in which we reside, has been shortchanged by the state Division of Highways," Browning said. "We’ve all had opinions, but this is accurate data that shows the shortchange."

In the last 10 years, the 2nd Congressional District has been awarded the lion’s share of federal money, with $2.2 billion. District 1 showed $1.7 billion, while the 3rd District again garnered the least, $1.5 billion, of the federal highway funding pie distributed by the state.

Browning said West Virginia was awarded $900 million in the last federal highways funding bill, but of that total, the state must maintain interstate highways and bridges, along with other mandatory spending directives in the complicated federal funding formula.

"But there is discretionary money; that’s the amount I want to know," he said.

The discretionary money can be used as state officials deem necessary.

The most recent discussions Browning had with state officials indicated there was $60 million in discretionary money last year. Of that total, Browning said, about $27 million was bonded, tying up that money for the next nine years, for U.S. 35 in Putnam County.

"Some of that money could have been used here. I don’t want it all, but they are completely by-passing the southern part of the state with the six-year plan," Browning emphasized.

There are actually four six-year highway improvement plans, Browning explained, and the Coalfields Expressway made the third one.

Bill Baker, a member of the Coalfields Expressway Authority, said the governor had told him the state is putting money "where we’ll get the most out of it and Raleigh County isn’t there yet."
Baker disputes the governor’s claim, citing the rapid rate of growth in Beckley and noting state officials did not factor in the new federal prison to be constructed in McDowell County.

"There’s no way we could pass muster based on the indicators the state uses," Browning said.

He also noted the state is now coming up with a 25-year plan.

"Southern West Virginia enjoys only minimal mention in the state’s six-year and 25-year plans," U.S. Rep. Nick Rahall, who represents the 3rd Congressional District, said.

"The governor argues in large part this is because economic analysis he commissioned found projects in central and northern West Virginia merited a bigger economic bang for scarce bucks," Rahall said. "I have suggested, and the governor has agreed, that the state work with the Rahall Transportation Institute to complete an economic impact statement on the construction of the Coalfields Expressway and the Beckley Z-way.

"I would extend that idea to the other major transportation projects in southern West Virginia, such as the I-73/74 Corridor (Tolsia-King Coal Highway), Rt. 10, the Shawnee and New River Parkways."

Rahall said it is a hard-fought battle in each transportation bill to fund roads in West Virginia, but West Virginia gets back 167 percent for every dollar spent in federal taxes at the gas pump — the seventh largest return of any state in the nation.

"Yet, with this tremendous increase that I secured to build more expensive highways in southern West Virginia, we still are faced with making the case for our projects," Rahall said. "I have no doubt that we can make a strong and sound case, that our highways will have a long-term effect on creating jobs, which in turn will increase revenues for the state.

"But here is the kicker, even after we have done that.

"(State Transportation) Secretary Mattox has publicly assured us that the state will continue to match every earmarked dollar the congressional delegation makes for transportation," Rahall said. "That’s a good thing; however, the level of match a federal earmark receives is critical. Let me explain. An earmark is an amount of federal funding that is allocated for a specific project. It is an additional amount to the state’s formula funding... In order to spend earmarked money, the state is required to match the earmark with a minimum 20 percent.

"Regarding the state’s matching federal earmarks with the required 20 percent, Secretary Mattox has stated, ‘nothing has changed.’

"Importantly, this is not good news for southern West Virginia," Rahall said. "The state needs to match the earmarked funds at a higher level than the required 20 percent for our projects to get off the ground ...
"The state must be a full partner with us — not just a 20 percent shareholder — in order for these projects to be completed. We in southern West Virginia have to make the case that we deserve a portion of that discretionary money each year," Rahall said.

Federal appropriations, or earmarked money, for the Coalfields Expressway now total about $132 million, Browning said.

"We applaud our senators and congressman for being in a position to get these special appropriations, but we can’t build this road relying on federal supplemental appropriations," Browning emphasized.

"We need to be in the state mix."

Construction of the Coalfields Expressway has begun in both Raleigh and McDowell counties. The new four-lane will intersect with the King Coal Highway at the site of the new prison in McDowell County, just across the Wyoming County line.

The Expressway — designated as U.S. 121 and part of the National Highway System and as a High Priority Corridor in the National Highway System Act of 1995 — is now a proposed 116-mile four-lane road, with partially controlled access, that is currently set to run from I-64/77 in Beckley to U.S. 23 in Pound, Va., by way of Sophia, Mullens, Pineville, Welch, and Bradshaw in West Virginia.

U.S. 23 is a major four-lane artery running through Pikeville, Ky., through Pound, Va., and tying into I-81 in the Johnson City/Kingsport, Tenn., area.