Timbering begins for next section of King Coal Highway project

Yahoo

22-04-2025

bluefield — Work is getting underway on a new 2.5 mile stretch of the King Coal Highway near Bluefield.
Trees that are in the path of the planned roadway are now being removed, according to the West Virginia Department of Transportation.
The $58 million project will take the King Coal Highway corridor from its current terminus point at Airport Road toward Littlesburg Road, near Bluewell and Route 20.
According to Ryland Musick, District 10 engineer for the West Virginia Department of Highways in Princeton, trees are now being cut along the next 2.5 mile section of the four-lane corridor.
Musick said earth work on the road is expected to begin in August.
The King Coal Highway project is West Virginia's local corridor of the future Interstate 73/74/75 routing. The first section of the roadway, which extends from John Nash Boulevard in Bluefield to Airport Road, opened to traffic in late 2023.
Former Governor Jim Justice, who is now a member of the U.S. Senate, joined local and state officials for a groundbreaking on the project last November.
At that point, due to the looming arrival of winter, no further work was undertaken at the construction site until now. State highway officials at the time advised that actual construction work wouldn't get underway until this spring, which made the groundbreaking more of a ceremonial event.
A second King Coal Highway contract is in the environmental review stages. It will extend the interstate corridor another five miles from the Littlesburg Road area toward the Montcalm community once that contract is finalized and awarded.
It is not currently known how long that ongoing environmental review will take. A contract award date for that section of the King Coal Highway has not yet been announced. A public information meeting was held last year on the Montcalm stretch of the roadway.
That 4.3 mile section of the King Coal Highway will go from Montcalm (County Route 11/4) in the north to Littlesburg Road (or West Virginia Route 20) in the south where it will connect to the existing section of the King Coal Highway at Airport Road.
In West Virginia, the King Coal Highway will ultimately extend 95 miles through Mercer, McDowell, Mingo, Wyoming and Wayne counties along or near currently existing U.S. 52 from U.S. 119 near Williamson to Interstate 77 in Bluefield.
In the bigger picture, the final Interstate 73/74/75 routing will extend from Detroit, Michigan to Myrtle Beach, S.C, opening up a large swath of Southern West Virginia to interstate access.
According to the National I-73/74/75 Corridor Association, the project will bring growth along the interstate within six states: Michigan, Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina. Sections of the interstate corridor are already open in other states, including North Carolina and South Carolina.
Contact Charles Owens at [e-mail]