Congresswoman Meets With Members of U.S. 35 Committee

Press Release

Members of the U.S. 35 Committee met with Congresswoman Shelley Moore Capito Tuesday to update her and receive information about the financial support of the construction project.

"Mason County can see the light at the end of the tunnel," Capito said.

Capito spent much of the day Tuesday campaigning in Mason County, with one of her stops being the Chamber of Commerce office to meet with members of the U.S. 35 Committee.

Last week, Capito, along with Sen. Robert C. Byrd (D-W.Va.), Gov. Joe Manchin and other dignitaries, were present for a ribbon cutting of the new exchange of U.S. 35 at Interstate 64.

On the Mason County side, work is about to begin on phases I and II.

The project objective is to take a two-lane highway and expand it to four lanes. Phase I begins at Coast Guard Road and ends at Five Mile Road. Phase II will be from Upper Five Mile Road to Upper Nine Mile Creek, with a connector between the new highway and the existing road being built near Cornstalk Road.

Officials still are looking for funding for the 13-mile stretch from Cornstalk Road in Mason County to the Buffalo Bridge in Putnam County.

Completion for phases I and II is set for Sept. 1, 2010.

Bizzac Construction Co. Inc. of Lexington, Ky., is working on Phase I, while Kokosing Construction of Columbus, Ohio, was awarded the Phase II contract.

An estimated cost for the 20 miles of roadway is more than $128 million.

The third phase of the project needs funding for the 13-mile stretch from Cornstalk Road in Mason County to the Buffalo Bridge in Putnam County. An estimated cost of that section of road is $200 million.

In efforts to find funding for the highway, Capito said congress is working on renewing the six-year highway bill, which is a plan to help fund the Highway Trust Fund. Much of the funding for Mason County's end of the highway has been earmarked by Capito since she became a congresswoman eight years ago.

According to Capito, it will be a challenge to find funding for the trust. Most of the funding comes from the gasoline tax.

But with motorists driving less miles and the fuel-efficient vehicles that are being produced, many are not purchasing as much gas, she said, and although Congress is thinking about raising the tax, many — including Capito — are looking for other sources of funding.

"I am dedicated to Route 35," Capito said. "I will continue to support Route 35 until it is completed. This is absolutely the most important project."

She said that Byrd and Sen. John D. Rockefeller IV (D-W.Va.) also have earmarked funding for U.S. 35 and that Byrd is thinking of giving more support to the project.

One issue for which members of the committee expressed concern was safety, especially that of school buses that travel on that route.

Capito said she was not giving up on trying to find a safe route to the schools from U.S. 35.

"We have had some good luck and good representation," Charles Lanham, co-chairman of the U.S. 35 Committee, said of the funding, "The funding for this project is in place."

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