Bluefield's $25 million transportation upgrade moving forward
bluefield – Working on a memorandum of understanding with West Virginia's new administration and seeking out an engineering firm are the next steps in an over $25 million plan for making Bluefield's streets easier for pedestrians, cyclers and motorists to navigate.
On Sept. 4, 2024, the U.S. Department of Transportation announced that the city of Bluefield had been awarded a $25,748,152 grant to make transportation easier for pedestrians, bicycle riders, wheelchair users and others relying on local roads and sidewalks. The funding came from $1 billion in grants through the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for the Safe Streets and Roads for All program.
Locations for Safe Street projects range from College Avenue, Stadium Drive, Cumberland Road, Princeton Avenue and other roads in the city along with the intersection connecting Cherry Street, Maryland Avenue and Stadium Drive.
Steps in taking the Safe Street project forward are underway, said City Manager Cecil Marson. One step is necessary because the state has a new administration under Gov. Patrick Morrisey and a new Secretary of Transportation, Stephen Todd Rumbaugh, who is also commissioner of the West Virginias Department of Highways.
Last week city officials meet with Rumbaugh while work continues on the memorandum of understanding between the city and the state Department of Highways, he said. Starting the search for an engineering firm to oversee the project will be the next step.
'So everything's online and we're moving like crazy to get it started,' Marson said.
The extensive project could take three to four years to complete.
'It's all (Route) 52, all of Stadium Drive, all of College Avenue,' Marson said. 'It's a big undertaking, but we're excited to get it rolling.'
The city could start seeking an engineering firm in two to three weeks. Firms bidding on the project will get about two weeks to look at the proposal before undergoing interviews at Bluefield City Hall, Marson said.
'And then once that selection's made we'll be ready to rock and roll and get after it,' Marson said.
'It's all safety and mobility in the city, so it's going to be things like bike lanes, it's going to be redoing the sidewalks,' Marson said. 'It will also entail some of the infrastructure underneath to make sure the storm lines and the sewer lines and all that are where they need to be and, of course, it will be street lighting and some landscaping and crosswalks. It's really to give folks good mobility and a facelift for the city and an improvement to the infrastructure.'
The project's goal is to convert four of Bluefield's key intersections to roundabouts, create pedestrian and bicycle accommodations through a strategic mountain gap, and make safety improvements that include implementing traffic-calming strategies and installing sidewalks, crosswalks, rectangular rapid-flashing beacons, and street lighting on selected corridors. The Making Residents, Students, and Visitors Safer in the Education and Recreation District program is designed to make safety improvements to a key gateway into historic Black communities and the entrance to Bluefield State University.
Contact Greg Jordan at
gjordan@bdtonline.com
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