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for the News-Tribune
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Senator Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va., continued his crusade to complete Corridor H by announcing new funding he secured in the FY 2010 Transportation and Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies (THUD) Appropriations bill.
The bill was expected to pass the Senate later Thursday.
Byrd secured an additional $4.5 million for Corridor H, which remains the only unfinished corridor highway in West Virginia as part of the Appalachian Development Highway System (ADHS). Corridor H in West Virginia is planned to stretch from I-79 at Weston through the Potomac Highlands to the Virginia state line.
“Corridor H is my transportation crusade,” said Byrd. “This is the only uncompleted ADHS corridor in West Virginia and it is my mission to see that it is completed. This additional funding contributes to that mission.”
Nearly 66 miles of the corridor in West Virginia have been completed and are open to traffic. An additional 23 miles are under construction and a 19-mile segment is under final design and awaiting funding. The $4.5 million added by Byrd would be used primarily for work on the roadway between Bismarck and Forman, W.Va.
To date Byrd has secured over $350 million in past appropriations bills for Corridor H construction. The State also receives annual ADHS formula funding as a result of Byrd’s efforts in past transportation authorization measures.
Byrd also applauded the completion of a 7-mile segment and the recently completed bridge over the South Branch of the Potomac Thursday, as well as the groundbreaking for a new ten- mile segment of Corridor H, which will connect the western edge of the Moorefield Bridge to Patterson Creek Road and Forman.
“I am pleased to see this new 7-mile segment and bridge officially completed, and the commencement of a new ten-mile segment,” Byrd wrote in a letter which was read at the dedication ceremonies. “I look forward with determination and resolve to the opening of each newly constructed portion of Corridor H as it is completed. And mark my words today: Corridor H will be completed.”
“The cutting of this ribbon today should be a warning for anyone foolish enough to say that Corridor H is a ‘road to nowhere.’ I say a road that goes ‘somewhere’ cannot be a road to ‘nowhere.’ I say West Virginians are ‘somebody.’ I say West Virginia is ‘someplace special,’” Byrd added in his comments.
In a new development, which could help accelerate additional funding for Corridor H, Byrd, who is the senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee and also a member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, also had language inserted into the FY 2010 Transportation Appropriations bill which would require the Departments of Transportation and Homeland Security to examine whether Corridor H could be designated as a major evacuation route for the Washington, DC metropolitan area in the event of an all-hazards disaster.
In addition to his successful efforts within the appropriations process, Byrd is spearheading an effort to reauthorize the Appalachian Development Highway System (ADHS) — a network of highways and corridors that was designed to provide access to and from communities in Appalachia. Joining Byrd in introducing the legislation were Senators Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va.; Jim Webb, D-Va.; Bob Casey, D-Pa.; Mark Warner, D-Va.; and Richard Shelby, R-Al.
The legislation reauthorizes the ADHS for an additional five years. The current authorization is set to expire on Sept. 30, 2009. The ADHS is currently authorized at 3,090 miles. By the end of FY 2008, 2,672 miles — approximately 86.5 percent of the miles authorized — were complete or under construction. The legislation will allow the Appalachian states to continue to make progress in completing the ADHS system. A completed ADHS will provide additional economic opportunities, safer modes of travel, and ease the strain on the current transportation infrastructure, including many overburdened interstate highways throughout the Appalachian region.
“Addressing the transportation needs of this country has been part of my life’s work,” said Byrd. “While serving in the House of Representatives, I cast my vote in favor of establishing the Interstate Highway System back in 1958. I was serving in the Senate when the idea of creating a highway system for the 13 Appalachian states came to fruition with the passage the Appalachian Regional Development Act. As a member of the Senate Appropriation Committee, I have steered millions of dollars towards the completion of the part of the ADHS in West Virginia, and advocated for the entire system’s completion.
“I am as ardent as ever in my intent to see the promise made by the Federal Government to the people of Appalachia is kept. The people have been waiting for this system for 45 years, which is far too long. Finish it!,” Byrd stated.
for the News-Tribune
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Senator Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va., continued his crusade to complete Corridor H by announcing new funding he secured in the FY 2010 Transportation and Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies (THUD) Appropriations bill.
The bill was expected to pass the Senate later Thursday.
Byrd secured an additional $4.5 million for Corridor H, which remains the only unfinished corridor highway in West Virginia as part of the Appalachian Development Highway System (ADHS). Corridor H in West Virginia is planned to stretch from I-79 at Weston through the Potomac Highlands to the Virginia state line.
“Corridor H is my transportation crusade,” said Byrd. “This is the only uncompleted ADHS corridor in West Virginia and it is my mission to see that it is completed. This additional funding contributes to that mission.”
Nearly 66 miles of the corridor in West Virginia have been completed and are open to traffic. An additional 23 miles are under construction and a 19-mile segment is under final design and awaiting funding. The $4.5 million added by Byrd would be used primarily for work on the roadway between Bismarck and Forman, W.Va.
To date Byrd has secured over $350 million in past appropriations bills for Corridor H construction. The State also receives annual ADHS formula funding as a result of Byrd’s efforts in past transportation authorization measures.
Byrd also applauded the completion of a 7-mile segment and the recently completed bridge over the South Branch of the Potomac Thursday, as well as the groundbreaking for a new ten- mile segment of Corridor H, which will connect the western edge of the Moorefield Bridge to Patterson Creek Road and Forman.
“I am pleased to see this new 7-mile segment and bridge officially completed, and the commencement of a new ten-mile segment,” Byrd wrote in a letter which was read at the dedication ceremonies. “I look forward with determination and resolve to the opening of each newly constructed portion of Corridor H as it is completed. And mark my words today: Corridor H will be completed.”
“The cutting of this ribbon today should be a warning for anyone foolish enough to say that Corridor H is a ‘road to nowhere.’ I say a road that goes ‘somewhere’ cannot be a road to ‘nowhere.’ I say West Virginians are ‘somebody.’ I say West Virginia is ‘someplace special,’” Byrd added in his comments.
In a new development, which could help accelerate additional funding for Corridor H, Byrd, who is the senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee and also a member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, also had language inserted into the FY 2010 Transportation Appropriations bill which would require the Departments of Transportation and Homeland Security to examine whether Corridor H could be designated as a major evacuation route for the Washington, DC metropolitan area in the event of an all-hazards disaster.
In addition to his successful efforts within the appropriations process, Byrd is spearheading an effort to reauthorize the Appalachian Development Highway System (ADHS) — a network of highways and corridors that was designed to provide access to and from communities in Appalachia. Joining Byrd in introducing the legislation were Senators Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va.; Jim Webb, D-Va.; Bob Casey, D-Pa.; Mark Warner, D-Va.; and Richard Shelby, R-Al.
The legislation reauthorizes the ADHS for an additional five years. The current authorization is set to expire on Sept. 30, 2009. The ADHS is currently authorized at 3,090 miles. By the end of FY 2008, 2,672 miles — approximately 86.5 percent of the miles authorized — were complete or under construction. The legislation will allow the Appalachian states to continue to make progress in completing the ADHS system. A completed ADHS will provide additional economic opportunities, safer modes of travel, and ease the strain on the current transportation infrastructure, including many overburdened interstate highways throughout the Appalachian region.
“Addressing the transportation needs of this country has been part of my life’s work,” said Byrd. “While serving in the House of Representatives, I cast my vote in favor of establishing the Interstate Highway System back in 1958. I was serving in the Senate when the idea of creating a highway system for the 13 Appalachian states came to fruition with the passage the Appalachian Regional Development Act. As a member of the Senate Appropriation Committee, I have steered millions of dollars towards the completion of the part of the ADHS in West Virginia, and advocated for the entire system’s completion.
“I am as ardent as ever in my intent to see the promise made by the Federal Government to the people of Appalachia is kept. The people have been waiting for this system for 45 years, which is far too long. Finish it!,” Byrd stated.
