North of Elkins, long rows of earthmoving equipment lay still under winter’s first snow. The giant trucks and bulldozers had been parked since Thanksgiving week, when the Court of Appeals in Washington ordered construction stopped until the lawsuit brought by Corridor H Alternatives, the Highlands Conservancy, and many other organizations could be decided. The big machines sat, but the propaganda machine wasn't idle.

The injunction was said to have been delayed to cause maximum disruption; cost taxpayers or contractors or both in excess of $46,000 per day; and laid off workers just in time for Christmas. A contractors’ association claimed the plaintiffs had "national and international agendas [to] control West Virginia’s destiny."

Stirred by its own rhetoric, the West Virginia Department of Transportation (WVDOT) marched back to court in mid-December. "To be thrown out of work, on the eve of the holiday season, inflicts a severe personal as well as financial toll," wrote WVDOT’s Washington lawyers. Thirty-three workers had been laid off but many others had "expected to be employed." Surely, the Court of Appeals would be moved to lift the injunction.

Plaintiffs' lawyer, Andrea Ferster, said WVDOT was trying to portray the Court as "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas," but the true Grinch was WVDOT itself. The highway department had told the Court "construction is not imminent" and would not be likely "for the entire duration of this appeal, even if the appeal takes a year or more to resolve." The Court had asked again about the status of construction at a hearing in late September. Although WVDOT would advertise for bids the following week, it failed to reveal those plans. Even after plaintiffs asked for the injunction, WVDOT signed two more construction contracts. It seemed the agency was trying to bulldoze the court.

The Court of Appeals declined to lift the injunction. Until a final decision, there would be no construction beyond the three-and-a-half-mile extension of US 33 (H-West) to US 219 just north of Elkins. The plaintiffs had not objected to that segment, since it had utility as a northern bypass, was appropriate to the projected traffic, and did not damage particularly sensitive sites.

Did the latest legal skirmish mean anything more than a short-term delay? For some lukewarm supporters who had thought Corridor H was the only way to get a better road through the mountains, the injunction further prolonged a continuous delay that had

lasted for twenty years already. Finally, they began to think of compromise. How could we spend the available money to do the most with the least aggravation? Would the enviros agree to build anywhere? Where did it make the most sense to build first?

This month, Corridor H Alternatives will publish a map of its recommendations for "heavy" and "light" improvements to existing highway corridors, including US 33, US 50, US 219, US 220, and WV 55. The timing could be fortunate. If the Court of Appeals reverses the District Court’s decision, the injunction will continue, and so will the thaw in the long-frozen Corridor H debate. If WVDOT is allowed to resume construction on the "Build Alternative," there will be further action in the courts, such as the separate Corricks Ford lawsuit, and no doubt more frustration.

Now WVDOT must decide whether to cancel the contracts and how much to pay the idled contractors. Many questions remained unanswered: Had WVDOT told the contractors that work could be held up by the pending appeal? Who decided to take that risk? What costs would be covered by the state?

On the record, the few answers appeared inconsistent:

1. "WVDOH estimates that the construction contractors would incur total delay costs per day of $46,060." Deputy State Highway Engineer Randolph Epperly, Declaration to the Court, Nov. 13.

2. "WVDOH officials estimate that taxpayers will lose $46,000 per day until work can continue." Governor Underwood, press release, Dec. 1.

3. "WVDOH officials estimate taxpayers will lose $46,000 per day until work can continue. This does not include costs contractors have incurred to bid and construct the project . . ." Contractors Association of West Virginia, press release, Dec. 1.

What began as the contractors’ costs became the taxpayers’ loss without satisfying the contractors. It looked like a shell game. Considering the Grinch, it would be important to see whether laid-off workers shared in the $46,000 per diem. If those trucks and bulldozers could still earn money while they rested under the snow, what about the employees who were sent home for the holidays?

Unofficially, Corridor H has been touted as a short-term jobs project. It hasn’t worked so far. In the long run, those who "expected to be employed" would find a more reliable source of jobs, as well as a more certain benefit to their neighbors, in the dozens of contracts necessary to fix our regional highway network.