Published: November 07, 2009 11:58 pm      

Transportation conference set for Tuesday

Money is where the rubber meets the road in these fiscally lean times, and that is the key issue before the West Virginians for Better Transportation’s special conference Tuesday in Beckley.

This is the only such gathering the group is sponsoring, and Beckley was chosen since it lies in the heart of Rep. Nick Rahall’s district.

Rahall, D-W.Va., not only will launch the conference at the Mountaineer Conference Center of Country Inns & Suites, but will deliver a key address in the afternoon portion.

Gov. Joe Manchin and his transportation secretary, Paul Mattox, likewise will speak, along with Senate Finance Chairman Walt Helmick, D-Pocahontas, and House Finance Chairman Harry Keith White, D-Mingo.

“It seems to be the prevalent thing,” the group’s chairman, Joe Deneault, said Friday of the difficulty in corralling money for road projects and upkeep.

“Our position has always been that we’ve got to talk about funding and then we can talk about where to spend it. But you’ve got to have it first.”

As if matters weren’t tight enough, Mattox last week acknowledged that West Virginia’s highway fund finds itself nearly $11 million below the projected take in the privilege tax imposed on the sale of new vehicles.

Deneault said he would like to see the speakers propose some ideas for finding new sources of revenue to finance road construction and maintenance.

“My guess is what we’ll have is a maybe a raising of the consciousness of this issue,” he said.

“Hopefully, the administration and the legislators can get together and decide how they’re going to deal with the problem. It’s almost like things are coming together as a climax. We’re having our conference, and all the issues surrounding the highway department’s budget this year are surfacing about the same time again.”

Deneault said the reality of the tight money impacting the Department of Transportation could haunt the average West Virginian.

“That affects people all over the state,” he said. “Right where they live. The road in front of their house. I think everybody has to feel that. It’s one thing for us to talk about not being able to build some particular project, and that impacts people in favor of that project.”

Yet, when cuts become necessary in routine upkeep, he emphasized, no resident can escape.

“That impacts everyone,” he said. “My hope is that our efforts, and the reality of the situation, will all come together and cause folks to really decide we’re going to deal with the problem. It’s a tough issue to deal with, particularly in tough economic times.”

And the problem simply won’t disappear or take care of itself, he said.

“The real effect of it is not only the fact that our citizens will be driving on worse roads, since the roads won’t be as safe as they could be, but the efforts we need for economic development are hinged on our transportation system,” Deneault said.

“So we’re going to have a tough time digging out of all our holes if we don’t do something to maintain our transportation system.”

— E-mail: mannix@register-herald.com