Bill Text: WV HB4239 | 2016 | Regular Session | Comm Sub
Bill Title: Relating to construction of a modern highway from Pikeville, Kentucky to Beckley, West Virginia
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2016-03-08 - On 2nd reading to Finance [HB4239 Detail]
Download: West_Virginia-2016-HB4239-Comm_Sub.html
WEST virginia legislature
2016 regular session
Committee Substitute
for
House Bill 4239
By Delegates Marcum, R. Phillips, O’Neal, Bates, Arvon, Gearheart, Shott, Cooper, P. White, Ellington and Moye
[Originated in the Committee on Finance on February 26, 2016]
A Bill to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated §17-2A-8d, relating to development of a highway project plan for the extension of the state of Kentucky’s Mountain Parkway Expansion project from the eastern Kentucky border with West Virginia into Mercer County and Raleigh County; legislative findings; requiring the commissioner of highways to develop the highway project plan; requiring quarterly progress and status reports; requiring a full report to the Legislature by the first day of the 2017 regular session.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended by adding thereto a new section, designated §17-2A-8d, to read as follows:
ARTICLE 2A. WEST VIRGINIA COMMISSIONER OF HIGHWAY.
§17-2A-8d. Mountain Parkway Expansion; additional powers, duties and responsibilities of commissioner.
(a) Legislative findings—
(1) The state of Kentucky highway project known as the Mountain Parkway Expansion is part of several broader initiatives aimed at revitalizing areas of eastern Kentucky that have experienced high rates of unemployment in recent years. When completed the highway will run more than ninety miles between Interstate 64 and US 23 in Eastern Kentucky. The project will complete a four-lane, high-speed route across the length of the state, from Paducah, Kentucky to Prestonsburg and Pikeville, Kentucky.
(2) The Mountain Parkway Expansion project is already underway and is designed to:
(A) Create a safe and modern parkway that will improve the connections between Eastern Kentucky and the rest of the state;
(B) Support tourism, businesses and economic development efforts in Eastern Kentucky; and
(C) Complement ongoing state and national efforts to boost economic vitality across the Appalachian region.
(3) The Mountain Parkway Expansion project is the result of Shaping Our Appalachian Region (SOAR), a bi-partisan initiative lead by Kentucky Speaker of the House Greg Stumbo that seeks solutions to improve the economy throughout Eastern Kentucky and improve the quality of life in the region and is also supported by Kentucky U.S. Senator Rand Paul and Congressman Hal Rogers. In addition to working to improve transportation infrastructure in the region, a key SOAR initiative is to improve and expand broadband and internet services available to eastern Kentucky homes, businesses, schools and hospitals;
(4) The FAST Act is a five-year federal highway bill that will bring over $2 billion in funding into the state over the next five years to rebuild roads, complete highway projects, repair bridges and improve rural transit programs. On December 15, 2015, Congressman Evan Jenkins announced that $420 million in funding is already trickling into the state and is primarily earmarked for public transportation. However, Congressman Jenkins went on to say that the second category of the money is designated just for rural areas across the country, which he expects to help in a major way throughout the southern part of the state. U.S. Senator Joe Manchin also noted his support for the highway expansion. Thus, the remainder is a viable funding resource for extending the Mountain Parkway Expansion project from Kentucky to Mercer County, Wayne County, and Raleigh County, West Virginia: and
(5) As West Virginia faces many of the same hurdles as Kentucky, this state needs to improve its transportation infrastructure in order to improve its economy and create jobs for its citizens. Extending the Mountain Parkways Expansion project from the eastern Kentucky border into Mercer County, Wayne County, and Raleigh County into would open up a direct route from southern West Virginia to Lexington, Kentucky, Cincinnati, Ohio, Charlotte, North Carolina and points in between.
(b) The commissioner shall conduct a study and develop a highway project plan to extend the Mountain Parkway Expansion into West Virginia from the border with Kentucky, either in Martin County or Pike County, Kentucky, into Mercer and Raleigh Counties in West Virginia, hereinafter referred to as the “West Virginia project” which shall include the following:
(1) Determination of the possible routes and the various methods of road construction best adapted to the area of the state where the extension of the Mountain Parkway Expansion would be located, including using existing portions of the King Coal Highway and the Coalfields Expressway;
(2) Investigations and experiments, hearings and public meetings and attendance and participation in meetings and conferences within and without the state for purposes of acquiring information, making findings and determining courses of action and procedure relative to the West Virginia project;
(3) Determination the cost of the West Virginia project;
(4) Investigation and determination of the extent to which the recent federal Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act (FAST Act) can be used to facilitate the West Virginia project; and
(5) Cooperation and consultation with other agencies and departments of the state, as well as local governments and West Virginia’s representatives in the United States Congress, to determine the most cost effective manner of constructing and funding the West Virginia project, including, but not limited to, additional federal funding sources, state, local funds and the issuance of bonds;
(c) Beginning July 1, 2016, the commissioner shall make quarterly reports on the status and progress of the West Virginia project plan to be developed pursuant to subsection (b) of this section to the Legislature. The commissioner shall make a full report of the plan to the Legislature no later than the first day of the 2017 regular session of the Legislature, including tentative routes, costs and funding sources.”
