MARTINSBURG — Toll roads alone might not be able to generate enough revenue to finance much-needed roadway improvements in West Virginia’s Eastern Panhandle, an area transportation advocate said during a meeting Tuesday.
Joe Deneault of West Virginians for Better Transportation told members of the Eastern Panhandle Transportation Authority that public-private partnerships between developers and the state’s Department of Transportation that were authorized by a recently approved bill might not be able to generate sufficient funds to complete the roads.
“The private side, just generated from tolls, won’t do the deal,” Deneault said.
A recent study by the West Virginia Department of Transportation showed that many local projects would cost more to complete than tolls alone could generate, Deneault said.
He said W.Va. 9 is expected to cost nearly $131 million to complete, and $1.9 million per year to maintain. Meanwhile, tolls on the yet-unconstructed portion of the road would be expected to generate $70.6 million.
“These numbers don’t add up,” he said.
The situation with U.S. 522 is similar, according to Deneault. The department’s study found that $168 million in tolls could be generated during the roadway’s bonding period. The project’s price tag, meanwhile, stands closer to $207 million.
This and other issues have left the Department of Transportation eyeing roadways in other regions as possible first attempts at the new partnerships, said Deneault, a retiree from the agency. In the next several weeks the department is expected to announce the first roadway where such a project could be implemented, he said.
It is anticipated that W.Va. 35, which runs from Putnam County to the Ohio River, will be the first such partnership. The two-lane roadway is a major truck route, and has been the scene of a number of fatalities.
The news that the Eastern Panhandle might not be a viable place to form such partnerships has left area transportation officials wondering what could be done to solve the region’s roadway needs instead.
“It won’t do us any good to sit here and wring our hands,” said Transportation Authority member Warren Mickey. “What can we do to fix the situation?”
At present, the answers appear to remain unclear.
