West Virginia awards grants for transportation alternatives, recreational trails

The grants will go toward 29 improvement projects in 21 counties throughout West Virginia.

According to the governor’s office, these grants are designed to help towns and cities improve their network of recreational trails, biking/walking paths, and sidewalks. This could include building new paths or enhancing existing trails.

“This program will provide millions of dollars that is going to be put to work making our cities and towns easier to get around and making our beautiful park trails even more appealing and accessible to West Virginians of all abilities,” Gov. Justice said in a statement. “These projects will also draw tourism and visitation to new destinations all throughout our state and the positive economic ripple effects will be off the charts.”

The program is administered by the West Virginia Department of Transportation and funded by the Federal Highway Administration.

Some of the transportation alternatives projects receiving funding include:

• The City of Martinsburg in Berkeley County will receive over $1 million for the North Queen Street Streetscape Improvements Phase 3, which includes the construction of approximately 1,600 linear ft of sidewalk replacement.
• The Village of Barboursville in Cabell County will receive over $933,000 for the Barboursville Pedestrian Bicycle Path project, which includes the construction of approximately 3,900 linear ft of a bicycle-pedestrian path along Park Road in Barboursville Park.
• The City of Summersville in Nicholas County will receive $450,000 for the Webster Road Sidewalk Construction project, which includes construction of approximately 2,300 linear ft of new sidewalk along Webster Road in Summersville.

Some of the recreational trails projects receiving funding include:

• The Hatfield McCoy Regional Recreation Authority in Logan County will receive $100,000 for the Bearwallow Trail System Maintenance project, which includes maintenance of the existing 100 miles of the Bearwallow Trail System.
• The Cacapon Resort State Park Foundation in Morgan County will receive $250,000 for the Cacapon Intermediate Level Mountain Bike Trails project, which includes the construction of approximately 5.5 miles of new bike trails within Cacapon State Park.
• The Summers County Commission will receive $50,000 for the John Henry Historical Park Walking Bridge for the design of a walking bridge to connect the hiking trails on the East and West side of John Henry Historical Park.