Jan Vineyard, with the West
Virginia Oil Marketers and Grocers Association and a member of the BRC, said
the Division of Highways is in the process of creating a video that the
Commission can take out into the community to explain the state’s road needs.
“I don’t think people realize how
much highway West Virginia
The West Virginia Department of
Transportation handles upkeep and new construction on 35,000 miles of roads.
The BRC report made it clear, the state must come up with new funding in order
to keep the roads in good repair and the economy moving.
The BRC proposed three ways to
accomplish that. The DOH must find ways to slash its budget without cutting
funding for road programs, the agency must be innovative with their cash such
as public/private partnerships and a new source of revenue has to come from
somewhere.
“Our highways take us to ballgames,
education, church. They take us to the emergency room. I don’t think people
realize the impact of us having a good highway system,” explained Vineyard.
The commission will use the video
to get the word out to the public. Vineyard said it’s just three minutes long
but it will get straight to the point and visually show state residents the
dilemma. The video should be complete in the next week or so.
The BRC, which conducted nine
public meetings around the state earlier this year to help them complete their
highway report, will head out again into the community with the video to get
the public on board.
“Anytime I need to move an issue
forward, it’s always done by grassroots,” said Vineyard. “It’s by getting
people educated and aware of what’s going on and sitting down one on one.”
The DOH is also working on an even
shorter version of the three-minute video that will just give just the main
talking points they want to get across to the public.
