Transportation solution is needed

Bluefield Daily Telegraph

May 07, 2008 04:44 pm

— The Greater Bluefield Chamber of Commerce is proud to be a member of West Virginians for Better Transportation — a statewide coalition of 250 diverse organizations, governmental entities and companies. The coalition’s members have joined in a united effort to educate policymakers and the public about the importance of maintaining a safe and modern surface transportation infrastructure.
Collectively, we recognize the importance that safe and modern roads, bridges and highways have to commerce, education, public safety, health services and our overall societal well-being. Goods roads, highways and bridges are essential to business, industry and jobs.
Today, West Virginia spends roughly $1 billion a year in state and federal dollars on its extensive system of roads, bridges and highways. The bulk of these funds come from taxes on gasoline, federal highway funds and taxes on vehicle purchases and licenses.
But, our state’s ability to keep up with maintenance and construction costs is becoming a problem. Sky-rocketing prices for needed materials and commodities used in construction and maintenance are eroding the state’s road budget. The state Department of Transportation estimates that it needs $350 million more a year just for maintenance and construction work on the state’s existing transportation infrastructure. That leaves nothing for 170 high-priority new transportation projects that have an estimated price tag of $20 billion.
West Virginians for Better Transportation will continue to spread the word and educate our citizens and leaders about the challenges facing the transportation industry – now and in the near future. As part of this, we call on our state leaders to act now and to develop appropriate long-term solutions. We cannot afford to ignore this important issue.
Marc Meachum
President & CEO
Greater Bluefield Chamber of Commerce