During City Visit, Morrisey Says WVDOT to Focus on Bridge, Road Maintenance; Eliminate DOT Positions
By Jeff Toquinto on June 09, 2025
A visit by Gov. Patrick Morrisey to Bridgeport this morning focused on changes involving the West Virginia Department of Transportation, potentially pause planned projects, as well as focus on what limited dollars will be prioritized for in the future.
“You need to have a strong infrastructure in our state to compete,” said Morrisey outside of the West Virginia Division of Highways District 4 office in Bridgeport. “I talk a lot about having West Virginia compete with the other states that we touch and certainly infrastructure is a critical 
part of that.”
part of that.”
During the press conference, Morrisey said that the condition of the roads and bridges in the state were “not what people deserve.” He also said that despite the billions of dollars spent in the last eight years on highways and bridges that there was a substantial amount of debt created because of it.
“When I came into office, what I found most alarming was that the DOT seemed to basically be out of money,” said Morrisey.
Morrisey pointed to the high-profile “Roads to Prosperity” program. He said that the 30-year program had “essentially committed” all of its funds over seven years and that the state was designing and starting construction on highways across West Virginia that the state “had no way to pay for.”
According to Morrisey, the problem was acute enough that the federal government, which provides the bulk of dollars for federal roadways in the state, threatened to reduce funds coming to West Virginia. That, he said, would be a problem with 14 percent of West Virginia’s bridges rated as poor.
“We have to change that. Our goal, and it may be modest and we’re working hard on it, is by 2028 we have to get that number. We have to get that number down under 10 (percent),” said Morrisey.
The trick for Morrisey and the WVDOT and WVDOH officials is to make improvements, but do it with less money. To begin with, Morrisey directed the state DOT to make a prioritized list of repairs for bridges and highways, and the order in which they are to be completed.
“Right now, maintenance is going to come first,” he said. “That is critical.”
Maintenance, he said, will focus on addressing potholes, pave roads, and repair bridges. He said new roads will be built, but likely in collaboration ways with the assistance of counties, or other groups, which he said may not have been done before. Along with that there will be a long-term transportation plan to guide investments, repairs, and maintenance of the state’s highway system.
Whatever transpires, it will be done with less people. Morrisey said the DOT has “too many” assistant and division directors. He said money being spent on some of those jobs could be “better spent on highways and bridges.”
“I’ve directed DOT leadership to reduce the number of management positions in the department. Too many people were drawing too high salaries and too little work was beig done,” said Morrisey.
There was no word on what areas would see reductions or an exact or estimated number given on the streamlining of the positions.
Morrisey said the problems that his administration inherited came after decades. He said, currently, there is $909 of highway debt for each 
of the state’s residents. The average in other states, he said, was between $500 and $600.
of the state’s residents. The average in other states, he said, was between $500 and $600.
“Too many of our leaders in the past … they wanted to kick the can down the road. They wanted to saddle future generations with so much debt. Why worry if the bill is not going to come due for eight or 10 years,” the governor said. “That’s not the approach of this administration.”
With the approach changed, Morrisey also said the state will have real-time data available soon on the DOT Web site of prioritized roadway projects starting today. He said they will not be politically driven for priority and the “squeaky wheel” method will not work either. Rather, Morrisey said data will determine the needs.
“We want to make sure our highways and bridges are safe,” said Morrisey.
During the event, Morrisey called on officials from the WVDOT as well as area legislators to speak. Among those speaking was Harrison County State Senator Ben Queen.
WVDOT Projects Map Web site HERE.
Editor's Note: Top photo is of Gov. Patrick Morrisey, while the crowd gathered is shown in the second photo. Bottom image is of State Senator Ben Queen, one of several officials to speak at Morrisey's press conference.
