File Photo by Scott McCloskey Swank Construction began removing the concrete deck on the eastbound side of the Fulton Bridge spans in February as part of the I-70 Bridges Project.

CHARLESTON — Gov. Jim Justice said Thursday that the third and final bond sale for the Roads to Prosperity program was a success.

According to the Governor’s Office, the state was able to sell $200 million in general obligation bonds for the Roads to Prosperity program at a 2.56% interest rate, generating $62.5 million in premiums.

“We have a premium … that we can use for new highways, secondary road construction projects. We can use it for anything,” Justice said. “The premium rate that was achieved in this sale marks the highest premium rate of any of the state’s road bond packages to date. Think about that.”

Speaking during his COVID-19 briefing, Justice said his advisors encouraged him to conduct the road bond sale in a private market to mitigate possible risk due to higher prices. Instead, Justice went ahead and put the bonds up for sale publicly to get the best deal and rate of return.

“There are points in time when I have to be the boss and make the tough decisions. In this situation … the decision was easy for me. You see, I believe in West Virginia, and I truly believe the world is beginning to believe in West Virginia, so I said no way. We’re going right to the market.”

Voters approved the Roads to Prosperity Amendment in 2017, allowing for the issuance of bonds not to exceed $1.6 billion to improve major roads and bridges as well as new road construction. The premiums from Roads to Prosperity bond sales have gone into secondary road maintenance for existing road projects, as well as the purchase of new highway maintenance vehicles and equipment.

West Virginia has $299 million in GARVEE bonds that were issued in 2017 and 2018, plus $800 million in first-round general obligations bonds issued in 2018 and $166 million in 2018 Parkways Authority bonds. Premiums for these bonds totaled $169 million, bringing the total road bond funding to $1.3 billion. A second round of bonds for $600 million went to market in 2019, generating more than $746.5 million thanks to $146.5 million in premiums.

According to the Department of Transportation, there are 240 ongoing Roads to Prosperity projects covering 241.8 miles in 2021. Since 2019, 380 Roads to Prosperity projects have been completed, amounting to more than 427 miles of work completed.

As of May 9, the Division of Highways has completed more than 9,344 miles of secondary road maintenance projects, including ditching, patching, and stabilization projects.