Belington Progressive

OF THE STATE ROADS
CHARLESTON, W. Va., Feb. 19th—It is probable, the State Road Commission says, that a large majority of the citizens of West Virginia do not have a very clear conception of how their county is affected by the distribution or apportionment of State Road funds. There also seems to be some confusion in the minds of the people as to the status of this or that road.

The Commission says it still has numerous inquiries pertaining to Class-A roads. Under the present law there are only two classes of roads in the state; namely, State Roads, and County District Roads. There is no such thing as a Class-A road at this time. All roads are County District roads until, by proper order of the State Road Commission, they are taken over by the state for maintenance or construction. They then become State Roads.

There has been a system of proposed State Roads, known as State Routes, laid out by the State Road Commission, but only such parts as are properly taken over by the Commission become State roads. This system, as laid out, does not include all the old Class A roads and constitutes a system of State Routes, any part of which may be taken over by the Commission for construction, or for maintenance if it has already been improved according to state standard methods of construction. Therefore, what might have been at one time a Class A road is not necessarily a State Route at this time, and unless it is first designated as a State Route it can never become a State Road. When once a section of road is taken over by the State it becomes a State Road and all further costs of maintenance or improvements are borne by the state, the county being relieved altogether from participating in this work. The maintaining of any other section of a State Route not so taken over, rests entirely with the county.

The old Class-A road system, which was originally designated in 1917 and revised from time to time until there were 4,675 miles in the entire system in the state in 1921, is the basis upon which State Road funds are apportioned to each county for State Road construction therein.

The State Road Law requires that out of all available funds for the construction of State Roads, after deducting 20 per cent for a reserve fund, each county must be apportioned a sum equally in proportion to the amount that the Class-A roads in the county bore to the total Class-A mileage at the time the law went into effect.

The funds for construction of State Roads are derived from the sale of bonds authorized by the legislature, and in addition to this, a certain amount of Federal Aid, under an act of congress, is apportioned to the state. The money from these two sources is placed in one fund and the entire amount, less the 20 percent for reserve fund, is apportioned to the counties. In this manner, each county receives its proportionate share of all Federal aid.

The Federal Aid projects can only be placed on a certain part of the State Road system, this part having previously accepted by the Federal government and designated as the Federal Aid system, and while there may not be such a thing as a Federal Aid project in a certain county, that county, nevertheless, receives in proportion just as much of all Federal Aid funds available as any other county. A mistaken idea sometimes gains a foothold in a community that because certain sections are receiving most of the Federal Aid projects, they are receiving practically all of the Federal Aid funds. This is entirely wrong, of course, as each county is entitled to just so much money, and whether a large portion or all of it comes through the designation of a Federal Aid project or projects in the county, does not affect this amount one way or the other.

The State Road Commission desires that the people of West Virginia realize these facts, as a great many misunderstandings will be overcome by a more thorough knowledge of the working requirements set forth in the Road Law.