The Obama administration says $10 million earmarked this year for work on Corridor H should be eliminated because it duplicates other federal highway funding. The announcement doesn't sit well with Delegate Bill Hartman, D-37th District, who emphasized this morning that the road is important for West Virginia and Washington, D.C.
"I am absolutely opposed to the cut," Hartman told The Inter-Mountain. "We anticipated this was going to happen and we are going to activate the Coalition for Corridor H to fight for completion of the road."
Hartman said the Coalition formed in 1988 to push the completion of Corridor H between Buckhannon and Elkins. The group of concerned community leaders from six counties has not had to be active in recent years.
"There is local support for the road, but with the economy the way it is, now the road is even more important," Hartman said.
According to a supplement to Obama's 2010 budget released Thursday, the funding is above West Virginia's allocation through the federal highway formula. The supplement says formula funding could be used for Corridor H.
"I think it is an absolute mistake, we need it for the prosperity of this part of the state," Hartman said. "We are not totally surprised but amazed that something like this could happen."
The state has been working on the 133-mile four-lane highway for more than 20 years. When finished, Corridor H will connect Interstate 79 near Weston to the Virginia line.
Hartman said there has been a lot of talk over the years of how Corridor H would be an important evacuation route for the Washington, D.C., and Baltimore areas if something catastrophic were to happen. He said the current roads would create bottlenecks and make evacuation difficult.
U.S. Sen. Robert C. Byrd says he won't give up efforts to secure funding to complete the highway.
