CHARLESTON, WV – Today, Gov. Jim Justice and all West Virginians celebrate the 2nd anniversary of the historic passage of Gov. Justice’s Roads To Prosperity bond program, which is continuing to transform West Virginia’s transportation system.
“Fixing our roads and bridges, constructing new highways, creating thousands of new jobs, spurring economic development, and bringing our state and our people real hope were all part of my plan,” Gov. Justice said today. “On October 7, 2017, the voters went to the polls and the overwhelming majority – 73 percent – came out and supported this plan.
“Now, we are now starting to see the results of this incredible infrastructure modernization program that will benefit West Virginians for decades to come. Hundreds of projects, spread across all 55 counties, are in various stages of work. Many have been completed and many more are still to come.”
According to the West Virginia Department of Transportation, 541 projects – worth $385.1 million and spanning 1,185 miles – have been completed through the Roads To Prosperity program to-date. Those projects, spread across all 55 counties, include paving, slip and slide repairs, bridge repairs, and other road improvements.
“It’s likely that everyone who lives in West Virginia, or anyone who has driven through, has benefitted from at least one road that has been upgraded through the Roads To Prosperity program,” Gov. Justice said. “This program has made life better in every county and in every part of our great state, all with no additional taxes.”
Even more West Virginians will experience the effects of the Roads To Prosperity program in the coming months.
Between now and the end of the year, an additional 293 projects – worth another $302.9 million and spanning another 382 miles – are scheduled to be completed.
During that same timespan, DOT crews are also scheduled to break ground on another 123 projects – worth $495.1 million and spanning 137 miles.
Add it all up and, by the end of 2019, a total of 957 projects – worth $1.1 billion and spanning 1,706 miles – will either be completed or underway thanks to Gov. Justice’s Roads To Prosperity program.
“Think about it for a minute. The people of West Virginia chose to make this happen and now they are going to see over a billion dollars going into their roads in just a couple years’ time,” Gov. Justice said. “And, because that billion dollars is coming from our bond sales, it’s also freeing up all kinds of money for the Division of Highways to do additional maintenance work on our secondary roads.”
In March, Gov. Justice also started his Secondary Roads Maintenance Initiative, directing DOH leaders to get their organization back to its roots by focusing on maintenance as its top priority. In just more than half a year since, the DOH has completed maintenance work on 18,306 miles of West Virginia’s secondary roads.
“What’s truly unbelievable is that this is only the beginning,” Gov. Justice said. “We are going invest more and more in all of our roads every day.
“We’re going to keep providing more access through West Virginia and we’re going to keep providing jobs to get the work done. Everybody wins. And I’m excited to see what we can accomplish in the next two years as Roads To Prosperity continues unlocking doors in our state.”