WV ROADS LAGGING FOR IMPROVEMENT - Repaving Schedule 33 Years

(07/13/2015)

One of a number of road slips, this one on Altizer Road, have surfaced around Calhoun County. Local highway departments are no longer allowed to fix them under a Core Maintenance Policy adopted a few years ago. Many such problems wait for years for funding With federal lawmakers unable to come up with a plan and funding for the nation's decaying infrastructure, West Virginia officials are searching for ways to provide a long-term solution to road funding woes. West Virginia has some of the most deteriorated and dangerous rural roads and bridges in America, according to new report by Washington-based national transportation research group TRIP. The state's repaving schedule has gone to every 33 years. The report found that almost 30 percent of state rural roads are in poor condition - the 6th worst ranking in the U.S. West Virginia has the 7th highest rural road fatality rate. TRIP, AAA, and other organizations said it is a "national imperative" that Congress and the states adequately fund the country's transportation systems. The nation's entire infrastructure is rapidly decaying, with Congress in gridlock over any national initiative. Poor roads pose a "significant impediment to the quality of life and economic strength of rural America," the report said. The report says 13 percent of West Virginia's rural bridges were structurally deficient in 2014. That's the 16th highest rate in the nation.

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