Rahall was honored by the Route 10 Committee for his decade of work to replace what has been called one of the most dangerous highways in the nation, in terms of acquiring federal funds for the new Route 10.
Earlier in the evening, community activist Freda Napier had announced that a grant for $88 million from Pres. Barack Obama's Stimulus Package had been applied for and that Gov. Joe Manchin had moved the Route 10 project up on the list of state road priorities to No. 1.
Rahall explained the nature of obtaining federal funds for Route 10 and talked about the history of the project. He also praised local support for the project.
"I do thank the Route 10 Committee for their persistence, their dedication and the professionalism with which they have, year after year after year, presented their case," Rahall said. The congressman also thanked many local, county and state elected officials for their support and help in getting the 20 percent-required matching state funds for Route 10 road work.
Rahall had words of thanks for the community of Man, too.
"You are the ones that experience, on a daily basis, the hazards of traveling Route 10," Rahall said, adding that without grass roots community support neither he nor Senators Robert C. Byrd or John D. “Jay” Rockefeller could do their jobs.
"That is what made our country great, not listening to somebody in Washington telling you what you want," he said.
Rahall shared a story about an experience with a New York reporter who once decried the project as "pork."
"He ranted and he raved," Rahall noted, saying he invited the Yankee down to ride on Route 10. It turned into a terrifying experience when the Northerner experienced passing coal trucks and school buses on the narrow, twisting road.
"He was so scared when it was finished he couldn't get out of the car,” Rahall said.
The reporter went back to New York and did the first of many feature stories in newspapers and magazines nationwide about how dangerous Route 10 in West Virginia was.
Rahall said the coal industry could learn a lot about dealing with national press from what supporters of Route 10 had made their case — by having critics and skeptics come here and experience the reality of a situation.
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