The proposed addition of portions of Logan County Route 12 and Logan County Route 12/2 to the Coal Resource Transportation Road System will be the subject of a West Virginia Division of Highways public meeting on Tuesday.

Scheduled from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Logan Elementary, on Midelburg Island in Logan, the meeting will afford participants an opportunity to ask questions and state their views and opinions on the proposal. Representatives from KWV Operations, LLC, who is proposing the additions, and WVDOH will be on hand to present information and receive public input.

Those wishing to file written comments may send them to Mr. Robert L. Pennington, P. E., Director, Program Planning and Administration Division, WVDOH, Capitol Complex Building 5, 1900 Kanawha Boulevard East, Charleston, West Virginia 25305-0430 on or before September 4, 2009.

The state of roads in West Virginia was the topic of another meeting recently of a different type. The Road Information Program (TRIP) held a news conference in Charleston, West Virginia recently announcing a report on road conditions in the Mountain State.

TRIP, a national nonprofit group, joined with key West Virginians in Charleston to communicate how poorly maintained surface transportation affects state residents.

The report, “Future Mobility in West Virginia: Meeting the State’s Need for Safe and Efficient Mobility,” makes it clear roads and bridges in the Mountain State badly need attention.

Dennis Slater, President Association of Equipment Manufacturers says that as the US is overlooking infrastructure, other nations outspend us. He said China, invests 9 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP) in infrastructure, where the US, only invests 0.93 percent.

Slater and TRIPs director of Public Relations Rich Jefferson had some interesting statistics about what West Virginia motorists pay each year for poor roads estimated at $280.

That’s $280 for accelerated vehicle depreciation, additional repair costs, increased fuel consumption and tire wear, Slater said. Statewide, for all motorists, that’s $371 million annually.

"Wouldn’t that money be better spent upgrading roads and bridges, to save motorists more money in the longer run?" Slater asked.

One government estimate says that nearly a $1 billion invested in infrastructure creates nearly 35,000 jobs. With state unemployment at 8.5 percent in May, there is no time like the present to start rebuilding say TRIPs members. Earlier this year it was estimated that more than 3,000 highway projects across the country could begin construction within 60 to 90 days. That quick turnaround not only means jobs but also increased safety, accompanied by vehicle and traffic efficiency.

West Virginia suffered 2.10 fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles of travel in 2007, which was the third highest rate in the nation – and 54 percent higher than the national average of 1.36. Improved safety, built into improved roads and bridges, would certainly change these numbers for the better.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act approved earlier this year provided $211 million in stimulus funding for highway and bridge improvements and $19 million for public transit improvements in West Virginia, but the state has a projected $5 billion deficit in surface transportation funding in the next 10 years. As Joe Deneault, chairman of West Virginians for Better Transportation, pointed out, the 2009 stimulus package “will not make as big of an impact as we had hoped.”

For more details see the article at http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2009/07/08/ap6631547.html