(Publisher’s Note: Nearly one year ago, LEDE News published this article including the perspective of Marshall County Sheriff Bill Helms, and we are re-publishing it to provide a chance for all local residents to realize how often roadway improvements do take place in the Northern Panhandle. Many projects have since been completed along secondary roads in Marshall County, and millions more worth of improvements have taken place in Wetzel, Ohio, Brooke, and Hancock counties, too. In fact, the W.Va. Department of Transportation will open the $131 million “Wellsburg Bridge” tomorrow in Brooke County.)
The last time Marshall County residents sounded off loudly enough about the condition of their secondary roadways, the people attracted the attention of Gov. Jim Justice and more than 10 major slips were repaired.
But that was in May and July 2019 when the governor actually traveled to the Northern Panhandle to meet with Division of Highways officials in District 6, but now with the colder months quickly approaching, Sheriff Bill Helms believes it is time to sound the alarm once again.
“There were some massive slips along Middle Grave and Fish creeks, and some of those have been repaired and that’s great, but our motor pool has to be monitored all of the time because of the damage that takes place every day our guys are out there,” Helms explained. “We have about 50 vehicles that are marked and unmarked, and there have been days when as many as 10 of them are not available for use because they are being repaired because of damage caused by the roads.
“When I see an exhaust pipe on one of our vehicles mashed down, I know there’s a roadway out there that’s really, really bad,” he said. “Our roads have supplied the reasons why the Marshall County Sheriff’s Office has gone away from cruisers in favor of SUVs and trucks. There are a lot of areas in the county where there’s just not a lot of traffic. Our vehicle may be the only one they see moving on any given day so it’s important that we can get there.”
Marshall County is approximately 312 square miles in size with more than 600 miles of paved and unpaved roadways within its borders. The sheriff’s office, according to Helms, has 50 cruisers, SUVs, and trucks in its motor pool, and Helms has assigned one deputy to keep track of the availability of the vehicles.
“I hate to cash a disparaging light on anyone, but when our secondary roads are better, I’ll believe it when I see it,” Helms said with the straightest of faces. “When some real action is taken, I’ll believe it. There have been some repairs, but the state is so far behind in Marshall County that one or two projects here and there just don’t make a difference to the overall conditions of our roads.
“We all know it’s not the fault of the people who work for the Division of Highways in Moundsville. It’s not their fault at all. The orders and the money come from Charleston,” he said. “That’s where the blame lies.”
Maintenance Money
There are roadways in Marshall County, Helms reported, that run through creeks and streams. One of them, in fact, is referred to by residents as the “crickcrossing.”
“There are a lot of rough roads in Marshall County, and yeah, that’s one of them,” the sheriff said. “If a road that has a creek running through it isn’t considered a rough one, then we have bigger problems than I thought. But the ‘crick crossing,’ as it’s called in the county, is a pretty common thing when we start to talk about all of the unpaved roads we have.
“That’s also why those folks have the big trucks that they have in those areas of our county. There are a lot of ridges out there, but that also means we have a lot of hollers, too,” Helm explained. “Most of the residents take care of the gravel and dirt roads as they need to, and they wish the state would do the same with the roads they’re responsible for.”
It is the maintenance of the roadways, Helms believes, that is not taking place often enough.
“I may not be an expert on the roads or how to fix them, but when I travel in Marshall County, it appears to me that a lot of the wear and tear is because of a lack of maintenance. The roads just don’t look like they are taken care of,” Helms explained. “Our roads look as if they have been forgotten by the people in Charleston just like Gov. Justice said here in the Northern Panhandle last week.
“I’m not alone in my concern. I talk to people all of the time and so many people in Marshall County are frustrated because nothing ever seems to change despite the concern,” he added. “We all see it, and we’ve all watched it get worse and worse, and with each day that passes, we can’t help but wonder what happens with our tax dollars if our secondary roads are this bad. What are those dollars being used for if not for our roads?”
