09-04-2025
Nearly one-third of West Virginia's roads are in ‘poor or mediocre conditions': report
CLARKSBURG, (WBOY) — If you live in West Virginia or know someone from here, you've probably heard at least one complaint about the quality of the roads. However, those complaints may be justified as a recent report has found that nearly a third of West Virginia's roads could use improvement.
On Tuesday, the National Transportation Research Nonprofit, or TRIP, released its 'Keeping West Virginia Moving Forward' report of April 2025. In its report, TRIP found a direct correlation between West Virginia's quality of life and economic growth to the resiliency, efficiency and safety of West Virginia's transportation system.
TRIP's research showed that nearly one-third of West Virginia's major roadways are in poor or mediocre condition, despite recent efforts to alleviate this issue, like the Roads to Prosperity Initiative, curated by Jim Justice during his term as Governor.
With help from the voter referendum, the Roads to Prosperity Initiative provided $1.6 billion in funds, generating improvements by 67% in repairs to bridges and highways, although West Virginia Department of Transportation (WVDOT) Secretary Todd Rumbaugh said that this funding was not enough.
'While that did help and we put that money to good use doing a lot of projects and bringing things up to modern standards, it did not solve all of our problems, and it only began to touch on things,' said Rumbaugh in TRIP's press conference.
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During the same conference, TRIP Director of Policy and Research Rocky Moretti explained why the $1.6 billion in funding was so limited.
'Unfortunately, a significant increase in highway construction inflation, which since the beginning of 2022, has increased the price of highway construction projects by 45%. This has had a significant negative impact on the ability of these additional funds to proceed with needed work,' said Moretti.
Rumbaugh said that the WVDOT plans to continue working alongside Gov. Morrissey to continue West Virginia's needed transportation repairs. He also mentioned several locations in north central West Virginia where construction can be anticipated to continue over the next few years.
'Bridgeport up to Morgantown, I-68, all those bridges along through there, we are working to replace and widen them to six lanes from four lanes, and that will continue for the next year or two. So, you're going to see that. And we also have several design projects on some of the interchanges in the Morgantown area,' said Rumbaugh.
TRIP's report also stated that by 2025, the value of goods shipped in and out of West Virginia is anticipated to increase by 88%.
TRIP's reported sourced information from the West Virginia Department of Transportation (WVDOT), the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), the U.S. Census Bureau, the Texas Transportation Institute (TTI), the American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA), and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
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