Members of the Corridor H Authority today completed a two-day “Washington, D.C. education tour” that included meetings between Authority members and West Virginia’s congressional delegation.
Corridor H Authority President Robbie Morris, Upshur County EDA Director Rob Hinton and Tucker County Commissioner Patrick Darlington visited West Virginia’s Washington delegation because of the pending vote on the U.S. Surface Transportation Bill.
“We felt we needed to meet with our U.S. senators and representatives in order to leave no doubt how important it is to West Virginia and Corridor H that the level of funding for Appalachian Development Highway System roads remains consistent,” Morris said.
“We have made considerable progress in the past few years toward completion of this critical highway, and we intend to keep pushing until Corridor H is complete from Weston to Front Royal, Virginia.”
The Authority members drove to Washington, D.C. on Corridor H, including the two-lane roads that connect completed sections of the Corridor.
Corridor H is 75 percent either complete or under construction. The highway is scheduled to be 87 percent finished within the next three years.
“It was imperative that we had the opportunity to explain our local needs to our federal delegation in the nation’s capital,” said Darlington.
“Congress is working toward a new six-year budget plan, and it is absolutely necessary that the Appalachian Development Highway System is a key part of that package.”
Hinton echoed Darlington’s assessment regarding the importance of the six-year plan.
“Finishing Corridor H by 2020 positions North-Central West Virginia to capitalize on many opportunities that will present themselves in the near future,” Hinton said. “These opportunities include expansion of plastics and petrochemicals created by the ethane cracker in Wood County and the expansion of natural gas production throughout the region.”
Corridor H is the final ADHS project under construction in West Virginia.
Authority members have targeted either completion or scheduled completion by 2020.
