WEST virginia legislature

2016 regular session

Committee Substitute

for

Senate Bill 327

By Senators Kirkendoll, Beach, Facemire, Hall, Kessler, Laird, Plymale, Prezioso, Romano, Stollings, Woelfel and Unger

[Originating in the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure; reported on February 17, 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 construction of a modern highway from Pikeville, Kentucky, to Beckley, West Virginia; requiring Commissioner of Highways to determine how the highway can be best funded and constructed; stating legislative findings; and requiring reports and hearings and public meetings.

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 HIGHWAYS.

§17-2A-8d. Mountain Parkway Expansion; additional powers, duties and responsibilities of commissioner.

(a) Legislative findings. –

(1) The Kentucky highway projects 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 to Pikeville in Kentucky.

(2) The Mountain Parkway Expansion project is under way and 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 that seeks solutions to improve the economy throughout eastern Kentucky and improve the quality of life in the region. 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) As West Virginia faces many of the same hurdles as Kentucky, the state needs to improve its transportation infrastructure in order to improve its economy and create jobs for its citizens. Completion of a West Virginia portion of the Mountain Parkways Expansion project would open up a direct route from southern West Virginia to Lexington, Kentucky and points in between.

(b) The commissioner shall take the following steps in determining how the State of West Virginia might best extend the Mountain Parkway Expansion from the border with Kentucky to Beckley:

(1) Determine the possible routes and the various methods of road construction best adapted to the area of the state where the Mountain Parkway Expansion would be located, including examining connection of the Mountain Parkway Expansion to I-73/I-74 and potential utilization of portions of I-73/I-74;

(2) Conduct investigations and experiments, hold hearings and public meetings and attend and participate in meetings and conferences within and outside the state for purposes of acquiring information, making findings and determining courses of action and procedure relative to the West Virginia project;

(3) Determine the cost of the West Virginia project;

(4) Investigate and determine to what extent the recent federal Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act (FAST Act) can be used to facilitate the West Virginia project; and

(5) Work with other agencies and departments of the state, as well as local governments and West Virginia’s representatives in Congress, to determine the most cost effective manner of constructing and funding the highway, including, but not limited to, additional federal funding sources, state funds, local funds and the issuance of bonds.

(c) Beginning on July 1, 2016, the commissioner shall make quarterly reports to the Legislature and the Joint Committee on Government and Finance on the status and progress made on the West Virginia project. The commissioner shall make a full report to the Legislature and the Joint Committee on Government and Finance no later than the first day of the regular session of the 2017 Legislative Session, including tentative routes, costs and funding sources.

NOTE:  The purpose of this bill is to propose the construction of a modern highway from Pikeville, Kentucky to Beckley, West Virginia. The bill requires the Commissioner of Highways to determine how the highway can be best funded and constructed. The bill requires reports.

Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from a heading or the present law and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.