It’s all about infrastructure

West Virginia in general and Fayette in particular don’t just need infrastructure week, they need an infrastructure decade.

Andrew Donaldson’s Fayette Tribune Column, reprinted by permission

Infrastructure is a funny thing.

There was the running joke over the constant “infrastructure week,” or weeks, or whatever that was supposed to be during the previous presidential administration. There was massive outlays of “Build Back Better” cash and similar funding of the current one. West Virginians expect any politician of any note to talk about fixing roads anytime they open their mouth to speak publicly about anything. Infrastructure is both constant promises and high rhetoric and a constant, physical “just has to work” reality for anyone to get anywhere and do anything.

The Oxford definition of infrastructure is “the basic physical and organizational structures and facilities (e.g., buildings, roads, power supplies) needed for the operation of a society or enterprise.” While concise enough, infrastructure in practical application is varied.

Recently the debate has begun on how to allocate funding for the long-promised, long-overdue, and badly needed broadband expansion in West Virginia. Infrastructure.

There is ongoing debate over the West Virginia power grid, of the past of power generation and the future of better ways to do things that aren’t ready to implement quite yet. Infrastructure.

The constant, never-ending, always complicated funding and fixing of U.S. highways, state byways, and every kind of road from the Gorge Bridge to the remotest holler. Infrastructure.

There is the way, way past-time-it-was-solved problem of safe, clean, and readily accessible water to all of the Fayette area homes, businesses, and tourist areas. Infrastructure.

One thing the current summer season and just completed 4th of July long weekend has shown to anyone who was out and about during it, is folks are coming in droves. The New River Gorge’s ascension to a national park has folks visiting, and the other wonderful things about West Virginia and the Fayette area have them talking to others and planning on coming back. That means more folks, God willing and the creek don’t rise, are going to be coming in greater and greater numbers.

West Virginia in general and Fayette in particular don’t just need infrastructure week, they need an infrastructure decade.

Whether it is parking in the cities and towns, incentives and support for entrepreneurs and business owners, implementation of that aforementioned broadband that finally might arrive, or any of a hundred other things that need to be worked on, infrastructure must be at the forefront of every planning session, conversation, and planning meeting. Local officials should constantly be talking, agitating, and cajoling state and federal authorities about the condition and plans for the lifeline roads of U.S. Rt. 19 and U.S. Rt. 60 that crossroads the area.

No candidate for statewide office coming through during the 2024 campaign should escape without answering with specifics what their plans are for the area. No city council or county commission meeting should go by without someone asking questions about infrastructure. Folks should use the power of their social media accounts and networks of friends to highlight problems and things that need fixing, and keep talking about them until they are.

There is very much a “squeaky wheel gets the grease” aspect to funding. Since the governor and other officials want to constantly talk about the “surplus” West Virginia has, and most of them, including him, are running for office on that brag, time to get to squeaking.

It is easy to take for granted things like roads, parking, utilities, and the other things we constantly use but only contemplate how they get to us when something goes wrong. The Fayette area and West Virginia have a real, sustainable growth outlook with things like the New River Gorge National Park and Preserve. The area isn’t going to get less beautiful or less attractive to the outside world that is really starting to notice it. Poor infrastructure and local folks not holding local, state and national government officials accountable to make sure the area stays accessible and functional to residents and visitors alike can deter the masses.

West Virginia is taking steps forward. West Virginians need to be faithful in the little things like maintaining and being proactive with our infrastructure to make sure that, unlike growth spurts of the past, these steps forward aren’t followed by more steps back.

Tribune columnist Andrew Donaldson is a native of West Virginia, a widely published writer, media commentator, and host of the Heard Tell program.

Originally published at https://www.fayettetribune.com on July 14, 2023.