West Virginia’s thousands of miles of secondary roads are facing more and more challenges each year. Recently, the state’s paving program has had to be reduced, and this comes after many years of stagnant funding. Paving and maintenance costs have escalated as the price of oil/petroleum, steel and other commodities have gone up recently.
The state’s roads also are plagued by road slips and rock slides, due to the state’s mountainous terrain. Drivers on some mountainous roads must face one-lane stretches as funding needs continue to mount.
- Twenty-seven percent of West Virginia’s major roads are in poor or mediocre condition.
- West Virginia leads the country in percentage of narrow lanes - 67 percent of its major roads are less than 10 feet wide.
- Travel on state roads is expected to increase 37 percent to 26 billion miles by 2025.
- Miles of roads in West Virginia being paved each year has dropped 50 percent during the past five years and is expected to drop another 88 percent by 2011 unless action is taken.
