FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Saturday, December 17, 2022
CONTACT: Jordan Damron, [email protected]
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West Virginia Week In Review
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On Wednesday, Gov. Jim Justice announced that West Virginia will receive $548,083,740 in federal funding over the next five years to replace, rehabilitate, preserve and build bridges in West Virginia as part of the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). The act, signed into law in November 2021, totals about $550 billion in new spending for infrastructure projects all over the United States.
The money will provide an important boost to maintaining the state’s approximately 7,000 bridges, almost 150 of which are owned by municipalities or are otherwise not owned by the WVDOT.
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Gov. Justice announced Monday that he has received the retirement of West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources Secretary Bill Crouch, effective December 31, 2022. He has agreed to remain at DHHR as an advisor until that time. His transition to advisor is effective today.
Gov. Justice also announced that effective Monday, Dr. Jeff Coben, Associate Vice President for Health Affairs & Dean of the West Virginia University School of Public Health, has been named Interim Secretary of DHHR.
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On Wednesday, Gov. Justice announced that in the first quarter of 2023, West Virginia will become the first state in the country to digitize vehicle titles and the process to acquire vehicle registrations. West Virginia’s current services will be expanded to facilitate a fully digital process, enabling online, mobile, and contactless services for vehicle retailers, lenders, insurance carriers, and West Virginians through the DMV’s online portal.
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Gov. Justice issued two proclamations, declaring Friday, Dec. 23, 2022, and Friday, Dec. 30, 2022, as half-day state holidays for public employees.
“In recognition of the hard work accomplished by the public employees of this State throughout the past year, and in acknowledgement of the holiday season, it is fitting and proper that the public employees of this State be given this additional time off to spend an extended and enjoyable holiday with their loved ones,” Gov. Justice said.
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Gov. Justice announced Tuesday that PRODIGI, in collaboration with the Preston County Commission and Economic Development Authority, has been awarded two Line Extension Advancement and Development (LEAD) grants to construct 150 miles of fiber optic network throughout the North Central and Valley District areas of Preston County. This marks the next round of grants awarded as part of Gov. Justice’s Billion-Dollar Broadband Strategy, also known as the West Virginia Broadband Investment Plan.
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A construction project to renovate 13 different bridges along a 40-mile stretch on Interstate 79 is among 21 contracts awarded by the West Virginia Division of Highways on Wednesday, Dec. 1. Triton Construction Inc. was awarded a contract for $62,455,000 to renovate 13 bridges on I-79 between Lost Creek and Interstate 68 near Morgantown. The bridges are in Harrison, Marion and Monongalia counties.
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Gov. Justice and his Governor’s Highway Safety Program announced Thursday that the statewide seat belt usage rate for 2022 came in at 92.5 percent, a new record. This rate exceeds the national average of 90 percent.
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The 2023 Roadsides in Bloom calendar is now available to order. The free calendar, sponsored by the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection’s Adopt A Highway program, includes 12 pictures of West Virginia wildflowers growing naturally along state roadways. The pictures were chosen from dozens of entries submitted by photographers from West Virginia and surrounding states.
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Travelers driving eastbound on Interstate 64 near Huntington have a new traffic pattern effective Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2022. Eastbound traffic between the 29th Street exit and the I-64 Guyandotte Bridge is being shifted from the outside lanes into the median for an approximately three-mile stretch. The work is part of a $91 million project through Gov. Justice’s Roads to Prosperity program to widen I-64 to six lanes in the area.
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The West Virginia Department of Education Office of Career Technical Education is pleased to announce the winner of the first Operation Christmas Crumble Culineering Challenge. The Hundred Crumble Bots of Hundred High School in Wetzel County captured the grand championship during the event at James Rumsey Technical Institute in Martinsburg, West Virginia. Students designed and constructed a mobile sleigh made from gingerbread and mechanical attachments that moved through a maze and delivered desserts.
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Fifty-five years ago Thursday, the deadliest bridge disaster in modern history occurred when the 2,200-foot Silver Bridge in Point Pleasant collapsed into the freezing waters of the Ohio River during rush hour traffic, killing 46 people. The Dec. 15, 1967, collapse of the Silver Bridge led directly to federal regulations on the inspection of bridges and an increased emphasis on bridge safety that endures to this day.
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