Let them pay for it

The Charleston Daily Mail reports that Tri-State Racetrack & Gaming Center at Cross Lanes says a new interchange off Interstate 64 could help ease congestion in the area should the track build its new table games casino, hotel and conference center.

Fine, as long as the racetrack pays for it.

People in this area have waited in vain for years for simple improvements to W.Va. 10 between Chapmanville and Huntington. The road is so curvy, it’s hard for a driver to sustain speeds greater than 35 mph for any distance. Removing some curves and otherwise straightening the road would suffice.

And let's not forget Route 2 or cable median barriers between the West 17th Street exit and the Big Sandy River.

A new interchange could cost $15 million or more. That same money would straighten lots of curves throughout West Virginia. Or it would install lots new, needed guardrail.

Money for new road construction is severely limited. There’s no sense in telling people in most parts of the state that their needs have to wait so gamblers and conventioneers won’t have to spend another 15 minutes to get where they’re going.