MORGANTOWN — In what some may interpret as a sign of the apocalypse, a collection of local officials offered a round of applause Thursday as West Virginia Division of Highways District 4 Manager Earl Gaskins concluded the latest stop on his mending fences tour.
Speaking before the Morgantown Monongalia Metropolitan Planning Organization Policy Board, Gaskins struck a similar tone to the one taken in December, when he sat with leadership from the city of Morgantown.
He explained that his career has been focused in the six-county district. He took over the leadership role in August.
“I didn’t shoot to be the district manager, but the one thing I saw with the county being in the weeds was, you know, we kept changing leadership, and every time we changed leadership, it affected everything. I’ve seen a lot of things happen that I really didn’t …,” Gaskins said, trailing off before finishing the thought. “I’m passionate about the department of highways, and I didn’t like the way things were going, so I did throw my name in the hat and, right or wrong, they selected me. Here I am.”
In Monongalia County, Gaskins has stepped in to navigate a relationship that, by and large, has hovered somewhere between complicated and toxic.
For years, local leaders have routinely questioned why a center of growth and development – which also happens to be the home of the state’s flagship university – would consistently have the worst roads in West Virginia.
That’s not opinion, according to TRIP, a national transportation research nonprofit group.
In April, West Virginia Secretary of Transportation Todd Rumbaugh helped roll out the most recent findings from TRIP confirming that 29% of Morgantown’s major roads are in “poor” condition – by far the highest percentage in any of the state’s urban areas.
The percentage of “poor” roads in Beckley, Huntington, Parkersburg and Wheeling ranges from 4%-10%. Charleston sits at 11%.
Morgantown also has the highest percentage of “mediocre” roads, at 22%; the lowest percentage of “fair” roads at 13%; and far and away the lowest percentage of “good” roads, at 36%.
“My goal is that I want to correct some of the errors made in the past. I want to open up a line of communication. I want to be there, and I want to be a partner,” Gaskins said. “I’m not one of those guys that’s going to stand there and point fingers and say, ‘It’s not mine, it’s yours.’”
According to Gaskins, a big part of fixing what’s been broken is open and honest communication about what’s required, what’s desired and what’s reasonable.
For example, the metropolitan area desires clean, freshly mowed shoulders and medians. The DOH is required to mow every road in the county twice a year, but it’s reasonable for the two sides to work together to get both accomplished.
Gaskins pointed to recent examples of collaborative efforts to address litter along major routes as well as potholes on state routes through downtown Morgantown.
“I can’t speak highly enough about that and the appreciation from the county guys. I mean, it was something that was unheard of and it worked really well. Thank you for that,” he said, later adding, “I want to continue with the progress we’ve got going on, and with your guys’ help and your guys’ support and pushing, we’re going to get better. I know you don’t see a lot of District Four presence. I want to try and change that. I want to be here at these meetings … but I also want you guys to know that any one of you at any time can call my office. If you have a question and I don’t know the answer, I’ll find the answer. You may not like the answer, but I’ll always be honest and fair with you guys, and I’ll be available.”
