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Roads

One of our biggest barriers impacting our quality of life is the poor quality of roads: business leaders and citizens alike complain about the road quality of even our main thoroughfares. I watch our City Council leaders and our County Commissioners constantly in negotiations with the Department of Highways and constantly experiencing delays to local improvement initiatives.  The good leaders of our municipalities and county, who are working to support the infrastructure growth and improvement of our district, need more effective legislative representation in our district to assist these efforts. These delays must be resolved through legislative means aimed at creating tighter oversight by the Department of Transportation over the Department of Highways, and expanding our public-private partnerships to fill resources gaps within our Department of Highways so that local infrastructure initiatives move forward in a timely manner.

Ensuring that West Virginia Road Funding Targets the Greater Morgantown Area

Ensuring that West Virginia Road Funding targets high-growth areas like the greater Morgantown area: West Virginia has a declining population, but Monongalia County and District 80 is one of the few exceptions to this decline. Our district is one of the economic powerhouses for our state. As a result, its growth should be championed, and I will ensure that high-growth areas like Monongalia County are prioritized in the funding of state roads. There is no excuse for an economically vibrant county suffering from poor road quality.

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Harmony Road Exit:

Harmony Road Exit: ensuring the Federal Highway Administration and the WV Department of Transportation are continuing to move forward with the Harmony Grove exit project that will greatly assist the growth of our Industrial Park while adding to the quality of life of our district residents by removing the excess of truck traffic from our local roads.

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Supporting Multimodal Transportation Opportunities:

Supporting the increased development of multimodal transportation opportunities: One of the key issues affecting roads in Monongalia County is excessive truck traffic, which could be reduced with better options for multimodal shipping—including by rail and barge. West Virginia passed significant legislation to reform the regulations of multimodal transportation facilities this year, which were unduly complex and burdensome. This can be reformed further by passing tax credits to further incentivize multimodal development.

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Expanding Public-Private Partnerships

Expand public-private partnerships, ensuring that, where necessary, private organizations can fill the gaps in our Department of Highways service, so extensive delays on road improvements are mitigated: While supporting and enhancing the capabilities of our State Department of Highways is a goal of mine, I recognize that they may not have the full capabilities to make every crucial repair given their staffing challenges, and it is thus important that we expand our capabilities for private industry to fill the gaps—both in our roads and in the capacities of our State Department of Highways.

5

Training Incentives

Provide training incentives and higher pay to potential Department of Highways employees: The low pay in West Virginia’s Department of Highways represents a barrier to having a fully staffed crew to repair roads in Monongalia Counties. Morgantown is a more expensive area to live in than other parts of the state, and thus our road workers’ salaries should reflect this. Legislative action was taken this year regarding this issue, but there is still more to do. In addition to further pay increases, we can rebate or pay the cost of skills training for these workers in exchange for a commitment to working for the State’s Department of Highways.

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