West Virginia Governor Jim Justice announced Monday a plan to put $50 million of federal CARES Act funding toward road projects that would improve resident access to medical facilities.
The West Virginia Department of Transportation launched a new program to identify and fund the road projects, called Medical Access Road Projects (MARP).
The MARP program includes projects in all 55 counties, which will improve access to medical facilities for citizens.
Morgan County has one road project listed on the state’s MARP map online – improvements to 5.6 miles of Magnolia-Detour Road in western Morgan County. The site doesn’t list specific plans for the upgrade, except that it will begin at the zero mile marker for County Route 18, which is the route number for Detour onto Magnolia Road. There is no start date for the work. The state Department of Transportation estimates the project will cost $600,000.
According to state officials, the Department of Transportation “coordinated with local and county emergency officials to vet and prioritize the projects.”
“These projects focus heavily on paving, drainage, slips, slides, and any other issue that may make it difficult for emergency personnel to respond to calls,” Gov. Justice said. “We want to correct these issues and provide ease of access to medical services for all West Virginians.”
