Letter to Robert Byrd

US Senator Robert C. Byrd
311 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510 May 20, 2009

Dear Senator Byrd:

We are writing to urge your support of the appropriations request from US Senator Ben Cardin(D-MD) for the US 220 portion of the proposed North-South Appalachian Corridor in West Virginia and Maryland. Additionally, WVDOT needs approximately $ 2.5 million for its portion of these bi-state preliminary engineering studies required by NEPA.

In a cooperative four state (PA, MD, WV, VA) feasibility study it was forecast that a relocated US 220 four(4) lane divided highway between Interstate 68 in Cumberland, Maryland and Corridor H in West Virginia would generate a 19% increase in permanent jobs or over 8,000 from an existing job base of 43,350 within West Virginia and Maryland. An additional approximately 2,500 jobs would be generated when US Route 219 from I-68 in Maryland to the Pennsylvania Turnpike (I-70/76) in Somerset, PA is completed as the northern leg of the North-South Appalachian Corridor.

That is huge for the Potomac Highlands region of our State and your support is critical in this effort.


Sincerely,
Wayne Spiggle,
Mineral Co. Commissioner

Cc: Governor Joe Manchin lll
Congressman Alan Mollohan
Congesswoman Shelly Moore Capito
Secretary Paul A. Mattox

November 2006 Minutes

Recorded Attendees: Gary Howell – Mineral County Planning Commission, Lotta Neer – Congressman Alan Mollohan’s Office, Darwin Wolfe – Preston County Commission, Grady Bradfield – Hampshire County, Charles Baker – Hampshire County Planning Commission, Evelyn Baker-Hampshire County Planning Commission, William Wood-WVDOH Charleston, Wayne Spiggle-Mineral County Commission, Ken Musgrave-Mineral County, Dave Beard-Garrett County Commission, Brian Car – WVDOH Charleston, Donald Cookman-Hampshire County Commission, Law Spangler-Hampshire County Planning Commission, Mitch Davis-Hampshire County, John Reisenweber-Congresswoman Shelly Capito’s Office, Marc Bashoor-Mineral County Emergency Management, Steve Slonaker-Hampshire County Commission.

Opening: Lunch took place at the Loy Foundation in Romney, WV. Steve Slonaker welcomed everyone to the meeting, and also took the time to speak highly of Scott Kimble which recently lost his life in a collision on US 50 in Hampshire County.

Introductions: During introductions Outgoing Garrett County Commissioner Dave Beard and Preston County’s Darwin Wolfe were recognized for their service and perfect attendance of the US 50 Association. It was announced that Dennis Glotfelty of Garrett County, and Craig Jennings of Preston County would be taking over for their respective counties. Dave Beard also stated that group was having an impact on safety and improvements along the road. Darwin Wolfe indicated this is shown when the representatives of the congressional delegation are regularly attending the meetings.

Old Business: Taylor County's lack of attendance in an official capacity was brought up. Wayne Spiggle requested that an official letter be sent to the Taylor County Commission. Gary Howell volunteered to construct the letter.

Discussion was held that US 50 was one of the most dangerous roads in West Virginia, and it is believed that it is more dangerous than US 35 which the governor has identified as a priority for safety. Brian Carr and Bill Woods of WVDOH presented numbers of traffic collisions along both US 35 and US 50. Bill Woods indicated that you could interpret the numbers in different ways. While the worst section US 35 in Putnam County had about 100 more traffic collisions between 2003 and 2006 than worst section of US 50 did, US 50 had 2 more deaths in the same time period. It was pointed out with the higher volume of traffic on US 35 (nearly double) statistically per mile driven your odds on having a collision on US 50 are much higher.

Evelyn Baker asked what we needed to do to get Governor Manchin to request the priority projects identified by each county be put on the states 6-year plan. Wayne Spiggle asked Gary Howell to construct a letter to the Governor and the Commissioner of Transportation requesting the small projects list be made a priority.

John Reisenweber of Congresswoman Capito’s Office stated that the meeting between the Hampshire County delegation and the US Secretary of Transportation was productive. US 50 is now on the radar of the US Department of Transportation for needing upgrading.

Marc Bashoor of Mineral County EMS spoke on US 50 being an evacuation route for DC in an emergency and that the road could not handle the traffic. Both Lotta Neer of Congressman Mollohan’s office and John Reisenweber believed that funding could not be secured for road improvements based on the possibility of a mass exodus of the DC area.

Ken Musgrave of Mineral County volunteered to put together a power point presentation for the Secretary of Transportation to push the need for upgrades on US 50. Wayne Spiggle asked Gary Howell to help, and he agreed.

Gary Howell spoke on a phone conversation he had with the WV Secretary of Transportation on the stated policy of building all 4-lane roads only on new alignments. Gary pointed out that by using the existing 2-lane as Virginia does for one side of the road it can save 30% to 35% on construction cost of a 4-lane road. He felt that the state should take a serious look at changing its policy, so that more 4-lane roads can be built with the same amount of funding. Many sections of US 50 could be upgraded in this way to reduce the cost. Bill Woods stated that has been the policy of WVDOH, but that may be changing as they state is currently looking at upgrading sections of US 35 by using the existing road as one side of a 4-lane.

Citizen Concerns: None

January Meeting:

Mineral County will host the next meeting on January 17^th at a place to be determined.

Meeting Adjourned at 2:17.

September 2006 Minutes

Recorded Attendees: Gary Howell – Mineral County Planning Commission, Darwin Wolfe – Preston County Commission, Lotta Neer – Congressman Alan Mollohan’s Office, Peggy Jamison – Garrett County Development, Bob Fisher – MDSHA, Karen Allen – WVDOH, Brian Carr – WVDOH, Frank Whitacre – Hampshire County Assessor, Grady Bradfield – Hampshire County, Mona Ridder – Cumberland Times-News, Charles Baker – Hampshire County Planning Commission, Evelyn Baker-Hampshire County Planning Commission, Janice LaRue-Mineral County Commission, Kristan Carter-Mineral County Development Authority, Cindy Pyles-Mineral County Commission, William Wood-WVDOH Charleston, Wayne Spiggle-Mineral County Commission, Terri Funk-Preston County Assessor, Dave Price-Preston County Commission, Dave Sypolt-Preston County, Glenn Eddy-Preston County, Bill Light-WVDOH, Carson Blankenship-WVDOH, Larry Weaver-WVDOH Preston County, Mike Workman-North Central Byways.

Opening: Lunch took place at Melanie’s Restaurant in Aurora, WV. Darwin Wolf welcomed everyone to the meeting. Darwin also indicated he was delayed getting to the meeting because WVDOH was cleaning ditches, replacing pipes, and paving sections of US 50. The meeting was then turned over to Wayne Spiggle.

Wayne thanked Gary Howell for taking the time to prepare the minutes and agenda for each meeting.

Bill Woods gave a regional update on US 220. He stated that the WV meetings were well attended, but attendance at the MD meetings was light. Things are progressing on US 220 to the point a public workshop may be held before the end of the year.

Brian Carr indicated that new projects underway would be paving of US 50 between Augusta and Romney as well as a bridge replacement near Mechanicsburg Gap. On October 1, after the new Federal Highways Budget comes out, the state will be looking at the 6-year plan. Some US 50 projects maybe moved up on the schedule to an earlier completion date.

Accident reports on US 50 included 2 fatalities in Hampshire County. Mineral County had an accident at the intersection of Rt 93 and US 50 that could be prevented in the future as an upgrade to that intersection has been identified on Mineral Counties needs list. Grant County reported no problems, and Darwin Wolfe reported only minor accidents on Preston County's portion. Gary Howell stated that US 50 in WV had now exceeded US 35 in WV in highway deaths per mile. The state had identified US 35 as a top priority for its death rate, and now the group needs to get the state to make US 50 a top priority. Evelyn Baker pointed out that Joe Manchin has campaigned on making US 50 a priority.

Karen Allen of WVDOH’s Byways introduced Mike Workman of North Central Byways. Mike stated that purpose of the group is to get people off the interstates and to the back roads for tourism. North Central Byways administers WV 7, US 50, and WV 52. Darwin Wolfe stated that the Preston County commission had not been given all the details in 1997 when US 50 was designated. Mike Workman stated that they have a corridor enhancement plan that preserves history and promotes tourism. He stated that they are getting ready for new projects and applying for grants that they may be able to work with the US 50 associations on. The North Central Byways group has control over signs on both public and private land. Dave Price, Preston County Commission, stated that by stopping signs it was upsetting to business owners, and asked how the group got that power. Karen Allen stated that it was given the group by the state Transportation Commissioner. Evelyn Baker asked if this power overrules the elected body of the county commission. Larry Weaver of Preston-WVDOH ask for a point of contact and it was stated that North Central Byways was the point of contact and had total authority over signs on both public and private land.

Wayne Spiggle asked Karen Allen for a sales pitch on turning Mineral Counties section of US 50 into a Byway.

Dave Price asked if the designation effected naming the road for 911 purposes, and it was stated that it did not.

Wayne Spiggle ask if the gift shop at Saddle Mountain over look could be bought using grant money from the Byways commission and permanently closed.

Janice LaRue asked about the state passing a law so that County Planning Commissions could regulate outdoor signage along roads, it was stated to work with state elected officials to make that happen.

Wayne had not gotten any information on the Preparedness Summit held last month at Canaan Valley.

Charles Baker gave a report from a meeting with the US Secretary of Transportation and Congresswoman Captio. Hampshire County presented there needs for US 50 based on the US 50 Association needs study. It was stated that Hampshire County was well prepared for the meeting and that a lot of the credit goes to Brian Carr of WVDOH and all of his hard work. It was stress that Hampshire County was meeting with the transportation secretary as part of the WV 2^nd Congressional District, and not the US 50 associations. Hampshire County is the only county in the WV 2^nd district that contains US 50.

Old Business: Les Shoemaker not being in attendance the Roberts Rules request was tabled until a later date.

Citizen Concerns: None

November Meeting:

Hampshire County will host the next meeting on November 15^th at the Loy Foundation.

Meeting Adjourned at 2:32.

Preston County Meeting Agenda

September 29^th, 2006

Preston County Meeting Agenda

Melanie’s Restaurant

Northwestern Turnpike
Aurora, WV 26705

I. 12:00 – 1:00 Lunch

II. Introductions

III. Minutes of Previous Meeting

IV. Correspondence

V. Old Business

a. Review of current decision making process and recommendation from Hampshire County that Robert’s Rules replace consensus format- Les Shoemaker

b. North Central Byways and Backways, Inc. - Karen Allen, WVDOH

c. Report on August Preparedness Summit at Canaan – Wayne Spiggle

VI. New Business

a. Hampshire County Report from Congresswoman Capito WV-2^nd District Road Meeting – Charlie Barker

b. Accident Reports – by County

c. Summer Road Improvements – Brian Carr WVDOH, Bob Fisher – MDSHA

d. US 50 Website – Rick Welsh

e. 2007 Priorities – Open discussion

VII. Regional Issues

VIII. Citizens Concerns

IX. Volunteer host site for next meeting

X. Adjourn