WASHINGTON, DC --  Senator Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va., who serves as the senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee today announced millions of dollars he obtained in funding for road projects throughout West Virginia as part of his on-going efforts to provide a safer, more efficient transportation network throughout the Mountaineer State. The funding was included in the FY 2010 Transportation and Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies (THUD) Appropriations bill, which passed the Senate yesterday by a vote of 73-25.

“With the approval of these funds, I have continued my commitment to the people of West Virginia to improving the infrastructure throughout our great State,” Byrd said. “These projects are an integral component of our efforts to create jobs, reduce traffic, make travel safer, and spur economic development and tourism opportunities for our local communities.”

Included in measure is funding for the following road projects throughout West Virginia:

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. The $4.5 million Byrd added to the bill would be used primarily for work on the roadway between Bismarck and Forman. To date Byrd has secured over $350 million in past appropriations bills for Corridor H construction. The State of West Virginia also receives annual ADHS formula funding as a result of Byrd’s efforts in past transportation authorization measures;

$2 million for the Coalfields Expressway -- The Coalfields Expressway is a proposed 112-mile four-lane, limited-access, highway that will run from I-64-77 in Beckley to U.S. 23 in Pound, Virginia. This funding would be used for work associated with the Allen Creek to Slab Fork area. To date, Byrd has secured $149.35 million for this project;

$2 million for the King Coal Highway -- The King Coal Highway is the 104-mile segment of U.S. 52 that extends from the Robert C. Byrd Freeway near Williamson to Interstate 77 near Bluefield. Funding will be used for construction of an interchange to WV 460 in Mercer County. Byrd has previously secured $124.65 million for this project;

$2 million for U.S. Route 35 -- The West Virginia portion of U.S. Route 35 runs from the Ohio River east through Mason, Putnam, and Kanawha Counties and connects with Interstate 64 in Charleston. The roadway serves as a vital commercial thoroughfare, with trucks using the road as part of their route through Charleston and onto Cincinnati, Dayton, and Columbus, Ohio, and beyond. Byrd has secured $117.54 million for this project;

$2 million in funding for continued construction and improvements to West Virginia Route 10 in Logan County;

$500,000 for the replacement of the Wetzel Bridge -- The West Virginia Division of Highways will use these funds to replace the current Wetzel Street Bridge in the Town of Hundred which has been closed to traffic for some time;

$1 million for Monongalia Health Systems Road -- The construction of an access road will provide emergency vehicles, patients, visitors and staff direct access to Monongalia General Hospital in Monongalia County; and

$1.5 million for the Hardy County Complex Access Road -- This will allow the Hardy County Rural Development Authority in Moorefield to construct an access road to West Virginia Eastern Community and Technical College and points beyond.

Finally, 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.

The language Byrd included states, “The [Appropriations] Committee recognizes that the success of all-hazards mass evacuations from major metropolitan areas is dependent on safe and high-capacity highways and bridges. The Committee directs the Department of Transportation (DOT), in cooperation with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), to assess the mass evacuation plans for the country’s most high-threat, high-density areas and identify and prioritize current deficiencies on the recommended evacuation routes that could impede evacuations if not addressed. Further, for the National Capital Region (NCR), the Committee directs the DOT and DHS, in coordination with the Office of the National Capital Region Coordination, to conduct an analysis of how national highway system projects currently under construction to the west of the NCR could increase the NCR’s evacuation capacity and provide a detailed plan to accelerate such highway projects. The Department shall submit its report to the Committee on Appropriations no later than 120 days after the enactment of this Act.”