beckley, w.va. – Work on new travel plazas in both Mercer and Raleigh counties was proceeding Thursday as Gov. Jim Justice signed legislation aiming $150 million at paving West Virginia’s secondary roadways.
Justice was at Tamarack in Raleigh County along with Secretary of Transportation Jimmy Wriston, P.E., Executive Director of the West Virginia Parkways Authority Jeff Miller and other officials.
During a brief ceremony, Justice signed SB 1002, which allocates $150 million in supplemental funding for statewide highway projects. Justice was also updated about the ongoing renovations at travel plazas including one near Camp Creek in Mercer County and a second one close to Tamarack in Raleigh County along the West Virginia Turnpike.
Work on the travel plazas started last year. Paramount Builders LLC, of St. Albans, was awarded an over $122 million contract for demolishing the old plazas and constructing their replacements.
Before the governor signed SB 1002, Miller updated him and the public about the plaza project’s status. The site of the new Beckley Travel Plaza could be seen from Tamarack.
Travel plaza improvements include expanded and separate parking areas for cars and trucks, designated parking for buses, RV dump stations, picnic areas, expanded restroom facilities, new restaurant choices, a drive-through at Beckley, 24-hour convenience stores, and expanded tourist information centers.
“If your recall November 2022, the governor, Secretary Wriston and myself met in the Tamarack Conference Center to make an announcement that we were going to redesign and redevelop all of the West Virginia travel plazas on the West Virginia Turnpike,” Miller said.
Miller pointed out the construction site in the background.
“Obviously you’ve been driving by these for two years wondering where we are,” he said. “I’m happy to announce that I think progress on these are going very well. You can see behind me obviously a dramatic and beautiful canopy that reaches out over the building there that’s going over top of the fueling stations.”
The new plazas will serve millions of travelers every year.
“We have 36 and a half million transactions on the West Virginia Turnpike every year,” Miller said. “Eighty percent of those are out-of-state and commercial truck traffic. We’ve got to be able to provide them with a place to stop and rest, for the families to refuel, to get a bite to eat. The glass houses of the fifties and sixties meant a lot to this area, so when we had the opportunity to redesign these with the assistance of our architect HNTB, contractor Paramount Builders.”
Miller added, “We took a hard look at what did the people want, and I think they came up with a beautiful design, something that meets today’s modern standards but also a little throwback to what the West Virginia Turnpike had at one point, so we hope by the end of this year Gov. Justice will be cutting the ribbons as the governor and not as a U.S. senator. We hope to get them done before then.”
Justice said he was happy to see the plaza construction moving ahead.
“When we pull the rope, we make things happen,” Justice said. “We are spending over $122 million on the travel centers, and think how that’s going to promote West Virginia to all of these people traveling to our amazing state. These are so important because they are part of every visitor’s great experience as they visit West Virginia. I am so impressed with the current construction, and I can’t wait to see the finished product.”
The ceremony then proceeded to the signing of SB 1002.
Justice said that he asked the Legislature to approve the extra funding during the first special legislative session in May. The money is in addition to $190 million received by the WVDOH in federal highway funds.
“Signing this bill is a huge win for our roads, our people, and West Virginia,” Justice said. “With federal funds only stretching so far, this additional $150 million means our hardworking Division of Highways crew can roll up their sleeves and tackle even more roads. I am beyond proud we got this across the finish, and I thank the West Virginia Legislature for prioritizing our roads. Now, we can keep the momentum going and continue to improve every corner of our state.”
The $150 million supplemental budget appropriation will be used exclusively for paving projects in every district in West Virginia. In southern West Virginia, these projects will include 17 roads in Fayette, Greenbrier, Monroe, Nicholas and Summers counties. Another 68 roads will be paved in McDowell, Mercer, Raleigh and Wyoming counties.
“With the signing today in the last five years $816 million of general revenue surplus money which has grown in this economy in 2017 when we elected this man he pledged to put infrastructure and education at the forefront and that is exactly what we’ve done,” Wriston said. “We’ve grown our economy and we’ve cut taxes time and time again. It’s a great day in West Virginia. It’s a great, great day to be a West Virginian.”
The extra funding will not be spent on the Turnpike, he said.
“The project we will be working on for West Virginians is paving on the secondary roads,” Wriston said. “We will not be putting money on the Turnpike. This will be for paving our secondary roads.”
Wriston said he credited the governor’s work for the extra funding.
“Once again, our governor has led from the front,” Wriston said. “He has demonstrated time and again that investing in our infrastructure pays dividends for our citizens. By calling the Legislature back for a special session to appropriate surplus funds for highway paving, our great people will continue to reap the rewards of a highway system that serves them well.”
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