Road construction in West Virginia has seen another upswing.

Governor Jim Justice called the state legislature back into special session, primarily to discuss additional appropriations. The legislature had already been scheduled for interim sessions at the Capitol.

The state legislature passed a bill focused on revenue from road construction, and the governor immediately signed a bill providing $150 million for road construction.

The new law, previously known as SB1002, uses the state’s budget surplus to fund road construction across the state. The appropriation calls for $150 million in additional road construction funds to be used for road construction projects in each of the state’s 10 road districts.

The additional funds in the budget will fund 499 road construction projects on more than 970 miles of roadway not covered by federal road construction funds.

This money is in addition to the $190 million the Division of Highways received in federal funds for road construction.

The governor said the signing of the bill represents a major victory for the state.

“With federal funding limited, this additional $150 million means our hard-working highway department employees can roll up their sleeves and tackle even more roads,” Justice said in a prepared speech.

Our @WVDOT Crews are hard at work paving roads with the $150 million in additional funding signed in May. We are on our way to improving roads in every corner of West Virginia – I couldn’t be prouder! Please remember to slow down as we continue road work. https://t.co/7jBCkBlKBO

– Governor Jim Justice (@WVGovernor) July 27, 2024

Fourth round of road construction work

The latest move in the state legislature marks the fourth time in two years that state lawmakers have passed a bill to use already available state funds to finance transportation.

In addition, Justice has called special meetings each of the past three years to discuss the need to use surplus funds to support transportation projects.

The governor noted that the passage of this year’s bill brings the state’s total investment in roads to $2.8 billion since he took office in 2017. During the same period, more than $816 million of surplus funds have been used to repair and improve state roads. LL

More Land Line coverage of West Virginia news is available.