| By Bob Weaver
TRIP, A nonprofit transportation research group, says West Virginia's rural roads are in bad shape.
The Washington, DC-based group released the report yesterday, ranking West Virginia seventh in the nation for deficient rural roads in 2008.
The report says 27 percent of major rural roads are rated in poor condition.
The report found that 14 percent of West Virginia's rural bridges were rated as structurally deficient in 2010 and found an additional 21 percent to be functionally obsolete.
The state has been ranked as having among the worst rated bridges in the USA.
The report also found West Virginia to have the 14th highest rural traffic fatality rate in the nation, with 2.62 deaths per 100 million vehicle miles.
In 2009, 221 of the state's 356 traffic fatalities occurred on rural, non-interstate roads.
In 2007 the resurfacing scheduled had gone to once every 14 1/2 years to once every 22 years. Last year the department indicated many highways are on a 30-year repaving scheduled.
Breaking a trend to privatize virtually all projects, doing only core maintenance including the selling of equipment, the West Virginia Division of Highways announced a fledgling effort called Secondary Roads Renovation Program.
The DOH has been criticized in the past for hiring outside contractors to do all paving work, claiming it saved money.
One repaving and drainage project covering one mile near Grantsville cost a half-million dollars.
DOH District 3, which includes Calhoun, Jackson, Pleasants, Ritchie, Roane, Wirt and Wood counties, is putting some crews on those less traveled roads and working on laying down new asphalt.
The Secondary Road Renovation Program is completely staffed by DOH employees.
The DOH set aside $15 million this spring to tackle 1,000 miles of secondary roads that have less than 500 vehicles on them a day.
Once District 3 is done with the paving machines, they'll be moved to other counties.
Calhoun Highway administrator Chuck Holmes does not return phone calls or respond to written requests regarding projects in Calhoun County.
See WV-DOH DECLINES PUBLIC INFORMATION ABOUT CALHOUN HIGHWAY IMPROVEMENTS
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