The oddest aspect about Bob Miller’s attempts to gain the billions of dollars in funding that’s needed to construct an extension of Interstate 68 from Morgantown to Marshall County is that he has the attention of the White House but has yet to hear a peep from W.Va. Gov. Patrick Morrisey.
Miller, a former Marshall County commissioner, serves as the executive director of the Route 2/I-68 Authority, and he’s been on a mission for several years to proclaim the need and the potential connected to the freeway expansion. Interstate 68 is 116 miles in length and connects I-79 in Morgantown to I-70 in Hancock, Maryland. The extension was initially proposed nearly 50 years ago, and it was technically approved in 2003.
The project’s planning was then suspended when the United States economy crashed in November 2008 after the housing market collapsed, and not until 2017 was the proposal mentioned again. The Authority’s website provides visitors with the history of the project and the mapping that identifies possible routes for the construction.
“And that was before we knew anything about the Marcellus and Utica shale plays,” Miller said during a Monday interview on the River Network’s “Novotney Now” radio program. “That’s why I would think there would be some interest from Gov. Morrisey’s administration, and that’s because of the potential we’re talking about when it comes to the extension of I-68. We’re literally standing on top of trillions of dollars of raw industry and raw materials.
“No one knows what’s happening with the proposed cracker (in Belmont County) right now because there’s been no movement on it or on interest rates, but that doesn’t change what is below the surface of our ground,” he said. “The Shell cracker is operational, and that means it’s producing materials for manufacturing, so we have to wonder what’s possible here since the transportation costs from Beaver County to the Wheeling area would be very low.
“The extension of Interstate 68 would expand those possibilities, and that’s why this is an important conversation.”
He Is Not Alone
In a recent interview with rivernews.com, current Marshall County Commissioner Scott Varner said, “I’ll probably be dead when this highway gets built. But there has to be a starting point, and hopefully over time we can get some movement.”
Varner has felt the same way for almost 30 years because, as a state lawmaker, he joined former Gov. Cecil Underwood and U.S. Sen. Robert C. Byrd to form the Route 2/I-68 Authority with hopes that development would follow in the future.
Now, it is U.S. Sen Shelley Moore Capito who has expressed support for the extension project.
“Scott wrote the legislation that formed our commission, and we’re thankful for his support. He realized the potential almost 30 years ago, and he’s realized that potential is still there – especially now that we’ve learned how valuable the shale below us is right now,” Miller said. “All we need is the audience so we can explain it to the people who need to hear about it.
“The economic impact on this area would be incredible,” he added. “And it would be generational, too, and when a road can make such a difference to an entire region of our country, I believe it’s worth taking a good look to see what’s possible.”
During President Trump’s first term from 2016 to 2020, Miller traveled to Washington, D.C. for several meetings with Bill Kirkland, a member of the Administration’s External Affairs staff, and other officials from the Federal Highways Administration.
Each meeting, Miller reported, provided progress despite an expected multi-billion-dollar price tag. Following the results in the POTUS 2020 race, however, Miller was greeted only by silence.
“I thought we had a good chance the last time Donald Trump was in the White House, but once that changed, the conversation was over, and I couldn’t get any traction,” Miller explained. “When we were in discussion with members of the Trump Administration, it appeared as if this could move forward, but that hasn’t been the case. No one ever called me back.
“Now, though, we have interest again on the federal level, but I’ve tried to make contact with Gov. (Patrick) Morrisey, and I’ve heard nothing back,” he said. “There seems to be no interest, and I can only assume it’s political. I don’t know what else it could be.”
The Sweet Spot
The proposed extension of a two-way I-68 from the Morgantown area to southern Marshall County involves the construction of about 85 miles of freeway through the ripples of northern Appalachia near Glen Easton and Cameron and a few other smaller communities with churches, cemeteries, natural gas/oil well pads, and creeks and streams.
No federal or state agency has ever placed a price tag on the project, but Miller is confident the interstate build would be in the billions because of the terrain, needed bridges and overpasses, and because of the rising cost of infrastructure construction over the past decade.
“But,” Miller always says, “the potential outweighs the cost.”
“We’re sitting on the sweet spot here in the valley because of the Marcellus and Utica shale that’s under this region, and that’s why the Trump Administration was so interested when he was our 45th president,” the former commissioner reported. “But even then, there wasn’t much interest in West Virginia under Jim Justice because he was already doing his ‘Roads to Prosperity’ program, and the construction of this extension would be an 80-20 split.
“But if this project were to move forward, I would like the President to be the person who negotiates the contract with the contractor,” he said. “It doesn’t matter if you like Trump or don’t like Trump, he is known as a great negotiator because that’s what he is, and I’m willing to bet he could make us the best deal that’s possible. I know it doesn’t sound like the traditional way to go about it, but I believe we’re at a point now where traditions don’t have to be followed to get things done.”
One criticism levied against Gov. Morrisey following the state Legislature’s regular session that ended in March was that there wasn’t enough concentration on economic development, and that’s why Miller is surprised he’s not heard back from the state’s top elected official.
“I have reached out to both Gov. Morrisey and Gov. (Mike) DeWine, and I’ve not heard back from either one of them. I’m not too surprised with not hearing back from Gov. DeWine yet, but I worked on Patrick Morrisey’s campaign when he ran for Attorney General and I have seen him since, too,” Miller said. “I thought Morrisey was a very good Attorney General, and I appreciated all of the work he’s done for the state, but I did think I would have heard back from him by now.
“I get that he’s a busy man, but he should talk with me,” he said. “Just talk to me for 15 minutes. Just hear what I have to say about this project. Listen to why it’s so important not to let this opportunity pass right now.”
