As monies for the State Road Fund continue to become tighter and tighter, and demand for new highway construction continues to rise, West Virginians can bank on one thing — revenue enhancements will be needed so the state can continue to maintain and grow its roadways.

Wednesday, Tax Commissioner Virgil Helton announced that an additional 41/2 cents per gallon will become effective Jan. 1 under the state’s existing fuel taxes.

Gov. Joe Manchin, by executive order, froze the previously scheduled increase in 2005 due to the spike in prices from Hurricane Katrina. That move, in essence, took more than $50 million away from the Road Fund, and he has said it won’t be happening again this year — and we agree.

Before you start gnashing your teeth over this position, it is imperative that we all consider some of the facts. West Virginia leads the nation in the percentage of road miles that are state-maintained (92 percent) and it is only one of four states (the others being Delaware, North Carolina and Virginia) that take care of both state and county roads.

Key factors contributing to the aforementioned statistics, that have in turn created a major problem with maintenance, were the state’s purchase of orphan roads by previous administrations. Another area of wasted monies is projects which had millions of dollars spent on engineering that have not, and likely never will be built.

The orphan roads are one thing; the state can’t undo that one. But the engineering expenditures are quite another and the Manchin administration has clearly said no projects will be engineered unless they are going to be constructed. West Virginia will save millions under this approach.

Also, since Manchin took office, the capital improvements budget for roads, which includes new construction projects, has gone from $150 million to $128 million to $91 million. Clearly headed in the wrong direction and another example of paying for sins from the past, not only in the Road Fund but in numerous other areas. This will go on for decades in our state. However, our leaders in Charleston have shown a willingness to expose the problems across the board and address them; it’s just a frustrating, unwanted and unpopular process.

So how does this ship carrying the future of our roads get righted?

We believe it’s going to take a number of things, including stricter management, to which Manchin says he’s firmly committed, along with cutting frivolous expenditures and, yes, instituting tolls on new roads.

Here are just a few things that cross our mind.
One of the oldest set of jokes you hear is about DOH workers and how they loaf on the job. We expect if it is happening, and we know there are plenty of you out there who believe you can cite examples, that those matters will be addressed by Secretary of Transportation Paul Mattox.

Also, some $1 million annually is being allocated, under legislative directive, to nine various authorities to promote highways construction in various parts of the state. That has to come to a screeching halt. Nobody can give us a good reason why State Road funds are being used within the state to promote building new roads. Whom are we promoting it to — ourselves? It has to be done away with, quickly.

And as for the issue of tolls, guess what, future multi-lane highway projects are going to have to have them in order to allow the state to issue bonds and get badly needed access to more monies.

The current six-year plan has a heavy focus, and priority, on construction of major segments of W.Va. 9 in the Eastern Panhandle and U.S. 35 in the Kanawha Valley. We won’t debate that they need the projects, but tolls should be forthcoming as a means of helping to fund these roads as well as others.

Many times over the last several months we have said the state should put up tollbooths in other parts of West Virginia. While it can’t be done on roads already built, it can — and must — be done on those new highways which are on the drawing board.

For years, tolls on the West Virginia Turnpike have not only supported the turnpike, but other roads and projects throughout the state as well. It’s now time that other parts of the state start to help foot the tab as well.

We’ve just laid a lot of stuff out to you that may taste pretty foul — but it’s not all bad given that our federal congressional delegation, led by Sen. Robert C. Byrd and Rep. Nick Rahall, are back in majority roles which will certainly lead to a steady influx of federal highway dollars to help assist. Still, those funds can’t and won’t get it all done.

Every part of West Virginia needs new roads and we badly need the Z-Way project in Raleigh County. So be certain when we say the existing turnpike tolls, as well as new tolls in other spots, are without doubt a revenue stream that will have to be tapped if it’s going to happen. The same goes for the Coalfields Expressway and King Coal Highway. If we ever hope to see them finished, it will come via tolls.

It’s a lot to chew on and we all need to make sure we chew it all up before we swallow.