Tabitha Lafferre, president of the West Virginia Chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers, presents the findings of the organization’s 2025 Infrastructure Report during a press conference outside the West Virginia House Chamber in Charleston, West Virginia, on Wednesday, December 17, 2025. (Photo by Caity Coyne/West Virginia Watch)
As West Virginia leaders plan to make economic development a cornerstone of the 2026 legislative session, a up-to-date report released Wednesday shows the state is still far from meeting basic infrastructure needs, both technically and financially.
The report, According to the assessment published by the West Virginia Section of the American Society of Civil Engineers, the state receives an average grade of “D+” for its infrastructure. It includes 18 infrastructure categories ranging from roads, bridges and dams to school facilities, drinking water, broadband and more.
ASCE publishes these state-specific report cards approximately every four years. According to Tabitha Lafferre, president of the West Virginia chapter of the ASCE, the most recent study published in West Virginia was in 2020 and covered only five infrastructure categories. This year, she said, the state received a “D.”
At a news conference on Wednesday, Lafferre said it was gratifying to see that the state of the state’s infrastructure had improved slightly. But it is clear that there is still much work to be done, she continued.
“The [D+] is still two levels below State grade C“And unfortunately, it is not a level that we can consider acceptable if we want an infrastructure network that can adequately protect our residents and businesses,” Lafferre said. “However, this represents progress and I say it is something we should be proud of.”
Seven of the 18 categories listed in the report card — aviation, broadband, dams, drinking water, roads, school construction infrastructure and wastewater — included estimates of how much funding will be needed to both maintain current infrastructure and meet potential future needs. These seven categories alone represent an estimated funding need of nearly $13 billion over the next few years.
The report emphasized that extreme weather events in West Virginia – which are becoming more habitual due to climate change – pose enormous challenges to meeting infrastructure needs. Other challenges highlighted in the report across several categories include the state’s failing population, rapidly aging and obsolete infrastructureharsh natural terrain and funding limitations.
Throughout the state report, the authors emphasized the importance of federal funding for both maintaining and improving the state’s existing infrastructure.
The report does not take into account the previously allocated sources of federal infrastructure funding—grants and others—that were made available threatened by the Trump administration last year. These include initiatives passed by Congress Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the American Rescue Plan Actboth of which were signed into law by former President Joe Biden in 2021.
Responding to a question about the instability of federal funding, Lafferre said Wednesday that the report is being prepared in part to show lawmakers — state and federal — the importance of protecting and increasing funding for infrastructure initiatives.
“One of the most fundamental things about report card is that we can use it as a tool to show our legislators that this is the reason we need more funding,” Lafferre said. “The IIJA is great. But it was a one-time thing. We need this (funding) consistently across the state to improve our efforts.”
Lafferre called the state’s infrastructure systems the “backbone of West Virginia’s economy.”
“When it works as planned, it is often out of sight and out of mind,” Lafferre said. “However, when infrastructure encounters a serious problem or a system fails, the consequences can impact people’s quality of life and have serious, far-reaching economic impacts.”
Rodney Holbert, the governor of the fourth region of the statewide ASCE chapter, said improving the state’s infrastructure and securing funding for future needs is critical if the state wants to build its economy.
“The future of our state depends on our ability to maintain and improve the current state of these infrastructure networks,” Holbert said. “These systems drive economic growth, create jobs, improve public health and protect us from environmental threats.”
West Virginia’s subpar infrastructure quality comes as state leaders plan to spur economic development Cornerstone of the coming legislative period. Republicans in the state House of Representatives said earlier this month that they want major investment and innovation for the state’s aviation industry. The state’s airports are estimated to need at least $132 million in infrastructure investments over the next five years to function adequately, according to the report.
Gov. Patrick Morrisey did this repeatedly in his first year in office touted be “Backyard brawl“Economic growth plan aimed at ensuring West Virginia competes more aggressively with surrounding states in recruiting businesses, improving development opportunities and more.
According to ASCE, every state surrounding the Mountain State – Virginia, Kentucky, Maryland, Ohio And Pennsylvania — received higher average infrastructure scores than West Virginia on their most recent report cards.
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