West Virginia Updates Infrastructure Website
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West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice announced the state’s Infrastructure Hub website will be updated to provide plans and show accomplishments in deploying $7 billion in expected federal funds.
“We have a ton of infrastructure projects already going, with more on the way,” Justice said July 6.
Already West Virginia is using $2.13 billion in federal infrastructure funds on transportation, broadband and environmental projects that will create 27,300 jobs.
The state is poised to receive $7 billion in federal infrastructure investment funds from 2022 to 2027. Of some $4.4 billion already announced for West Virginia, federal infrastructure investment funds will pay for $3 billion in highway projects, $506 million to replace/repair bridges, $487 million for drinking water projects and $190 million for public transportation.
Justice
Funding also will go toward broadband expansion ($100 million), constructing electric vehicle infrastructure ($46 million), airport improvements ($44 million), cybersecurity ($14 million) and wildfire protection ($11 million).
The West Virginia Infrastructure Hub is being designed to allow residents to see how the state is using the funds. It is organized into special sections for accomplishments and an opportunity tracker for federal grants. There also are special dashboards for Inflation Reduction Act and Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act projects that show projects, grant types, status (lost, pending or won) and by county.
“This website is the most accurate and transparent way for people to keep track of how federal dollars are being spent on those projects around the state. There is a lot of money rolling into West Virginia right now, and this is how you can keep track of how it is being used for you,” Justice declared.
West Virginia Infrastructure Hub
Within the next few months, the West Virginia Infrastructure Hub will include a statewide fund tracker tool to improve coordination between state/local agencies and economic development representatives to make it easier for communities throughout the state to secure federal funds for their projects.
The state’s Infrastructure Hub website, under the Governor’s Office of IIJA Coordination, notes that based on federal formula funding grants alone, West Virginia is projected to receive some $3.8 billion in federal dollars for transportation over the next five years. The state also has opportunities to win additional federal discretionary grants to spend on its transportation system. As of July 10, $1.6 billion had been announced for investments in roads, bridges, public transit, ports and airports.
Did you know?
Each year, some $119 billion in freight is shipped to and from West Virginia. Trucks are responsible for transporting 72% of that annual freight.
State transportation officials forecast that 1,545 bridges and more than 3,200 centerline miles of highway will need improvements and repairs this year. West Virginia’s road system consists of more than 35,000 centerline miles of public roads and over 7,000 bridges.
West Virginia’s highways division has allocated nearly $200 million in federal funds over two years to improve 300 lane miles of the roadway system, including 43 lane miles on the interstate system.
Of the $506 million in expected funds to fix and replace bridges over the next five years, officials have announced awarding $220 million, of which 15% will be spent on 39 nonstate-owned bridges in poor condition. The goal is to improve 75% of the state’s municipal and off-system bridges.
Among the projects being showcased by the state are the Corridor H project to connect interstates 79 and 81 as well as the Reconnecting Bluefield Project to build a “T”-shaped corridor in downtown Bluefield to create a modern multimodal street facility that integrates central bridge landings with street improvements around a railroad yard.
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