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W.VA. Defends a Privatized Contract

Don't always believe what you read, says Bruce Kenney, a systems management engineer with the West Virginia Department of Transportation. A local newspaper recently ran a story saying that since the state privatized the striping of its highways, costs have almost doubled to $9 million. And that, Kenney says, is simply not so. The overall costs may actually be lower.

Don't always believe what you read, says Bruce Kenney, a systems management engineer with the West Virginia Department of Transportation. A local newspaper recently ran a story saying that since the state privatized the striping of its highways, costs have almost doubled to $9 million. And that, Kenney says, is simply not so. The overall costs may actually be lower.

Besides, Kenney says, it is impossible to compare the costs of highway striping when the state's own workers were doing it three years ago with what is happening now under a private-sector contract. "The old way, someone splashed paint on the road and drove off before we knew what happened to it," Kenny says. "It could be good for two to three days or three years." Nor was the department sure how well the striping performed. Now, under contracts with pavement-marking companies that specialize in the work, the goal is spelled out: consistent, reliable markings that stay reflective, and last. And the responsibility for that performance is with the contractors, not the state. If cars run across a line and smear it while the paint is still wet, the contractor pays to fix it. If paint spills during the job, cleanup is the contractor's responsibility.

The contract places a value on reflectivity of the markings over time. "Depending how well headlights are reflected back to the motorist, they're much more comfortable driving along the roadway, especially at higher speed," Kenney says.

Privatization has also allowed state highway crews to return to concentrating on the building and maintenance jobs that were neglected when the work force was spread too thin and DOT employees were doing jobs that weren't their specialty.

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