West Virginia Governor Jim Justice dedicates Birdeye Bend in Philippi as part of Mountain Ride program

PHILIPPI, W.Va. (WV News) — There's a new route on which to see the beautiful scenery of West Virginia.

On Friday, Gov. Jim Justice joined state Department of Tourism and Department of Transportation officials at Blue and Gray Park in Philippi to dedicate Birdeye Bend.

Birdeye Bend is the latest of four scenic routes chosen to appeal to motorcycle and vehicular travelers, showcasing the state's beauty as part of the West Virginia Mountain Ride Program.

"This is the fourth out of 11 roads that we’ll be doing until next year. This is exciting because we already know motorcyclists are coming to the state. This is an effort to make sure the roads are in great shape," said Randy Damron, Department of Transportation events director.

The dedication featured speeches by Damron, Justice and Tourism Secretary Chelsea Ruby.

"We’ve identified certain roads, and have made sure they’re in tip top shape. Then the tourism department promotes these roads for tourists. So this is a great partnership between the Division of Highways, Governor's office, and the Department of Tourism. This route goes from Philippi to Elkins, then Parsons, Kingwood, Morgantown, Clarksburg and then back to Philippi. So this is a great place for a motorcycle route," Damron said.

"If you think back five or six years ago and think about the idea of promoting roads in West Virginia, it's almost comical. We had so many problems with the roads. The Governor used the Road Bonds Project to put so much money into fixing things, and now here we are promoting roads," Ruby said.

"This route has great local businesses along it. Our other roads have seen an increase in traffic for local businesses, so we’re happy to add this route to that list," she said.

Justice was gushing with praise for the effort to further showcase West Virginia.

"These are the greatest people and the greatest destinations for people to come to, but in many ways, people on the outside thought the worst thoughts about us and thought we were the poorest and most backwards state. Now today, they think of us as the diamond in the rough they missed. We love one another, appreciate one another and appreciate the businesses here. We appreciate all the goodness that happens around us everyday," Justice said.

During the speeches, great emphasis was put on the history of West Virginia roads and how they have been renovated and improved tourism.

"Everybody talked about the state roads and how bad they were. Now we’re seeing this tremendous turn around. We realize people judge us by the quality of our roads. Our roads are in good shape and their getting better," Damron said.

"We’ve had every major publication in the country say that we’re one of the top places to visit this year. All of that is because of the work of Governor Justice. Traveler spending in the state is over $5 billion a year. The highest in state history," Ruby said.

"We’ve got to keep this going. If we don't watch out, we’ll get in our own way and blow our own legs off and then we got a real problem. There's too much opportunity here and we have to keep going. We are looking at just the edges of the plate. There's so much more," Justice said.

After the ribbon cutting, the Governor took time to take pictures and speak to the people who attended the dedication. He also brought out Baby Dog for photo ops.

Noah Jeffries can be reached at [email protected]

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