One week after announcing his goal to build an interstate-quality highway between Prestonsburg and Beckley, W.Va., Kentucky House Speaker Greg Stumbo and three other House leaders discussed an even larger goal this afternoon during meetings with U.S. Rep. Hal Rogers and U.S. Sen. Rand Paul in Washington, D.C. U.S. House Speaker John Boehner attended the meeting with Rep. Rogers.
In addition to the extension of the Mountain Parkway, the state and federal leaders also discussed the widening of the Hal Rogers Parkway, bringing it up to interstate standards and extending it southeast to Tennessee. The combined projects would become part of the Interstate 66 project that Eastern Kentucky leaders and Rep. Rogers have long championed.
“These meetings went exactly as we had hoped and show that the support is growing in our nation’s capitol,” said Speaker Stumbo. “They realize, as we do, that projects like these can open up the region in a way no other can. Eastern Kentucky needs a major interstate route to the east and south, and these plans are the best way to do that.”
Those attending with Speaker Stumbo included House Majority Leader Rocky Adkins, House Speaker Pro Tem Jody Richards and House Majority Whip Johnny Bell. They arranged the meetings while in Washington for the National Conference of State Legislature’s Symposium for Legislative Leaders.
Speaker Stumbo has asked the state’s Transportation Cabinet to look more closely at how the project from Prestonsburg to Beckley, W.Va., could be accomplished, and he supports efforts to re-purpose up to $1 billion of federal abandoned mine land funds.
“Rather than sitting idle, these funds can be used to improve the coal region’s infrastructure and economic future,” Stumbo said.
The Kentucky House leaders support expanding the project’s scope to include the Hal Rogers Parkway and tying it together under the I-66 umbrella.
“I want to thank Rep. Rogers, Sen. Paul and House Speaker Boehner for meeting with us and offering their suggestions,” Speaker Stumbo said. “These billion-dollar projects can’t be built overnight, but the sooner we can lay the groundwork and planning, the sooner we can begin turning this dream into reality.”
(story provided by Office of the Kentucky House Speaker)
