Latest news with #WestVirginiaDepartmentofHighways
Yahoo
22-04-2025
- Yahoo
Timbering begins for next section of King Coal Highway project
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 cowens@
Yahoo
15-02-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Marion County delegates support bridge renaming to honor area veterans
FAIRMONT — Two of Marion County's delegates sponsored a resolution to have a pair of bridges renamed after three United State Army Veterans on Friday. The three Army veterans are brothers. The two bridges are located in Wetzel County. The first, known locally as the Stewart Street Bridge, lies over the West Virginia Fork of Fish Creek. The second is the Church Fork Bridge, which carries U.S. 250 over Church Fork Creek. Lead Sponsor Del. Charles Sheedy, R-Marshall County, wants to name the Stewart Street Bridge, in Hundred, after Vernon and Vincent Tustin, and the Church Fork Bridge, in Wetzel County, after Terry Tustin. 'Big family,' Del. Mike DeVault, R-Marion County, said. 'All five of them served in WWII together. The two youngest ones served in the military and the Korean conflict. Just the fact none of them died in combat, they all survived.' DeVault and Del. Phil Mallow. R-Marion County, joined Sheedy as sponsors on the bill. Neither Mallow or Sheedy returned a message by press time. The West Virginia Department of Highways only names bridges after individuals once they are deceased. According to Terry Tustin's obituary, he died at the age of 73 in 2017. Vincent Tustin died in 2023 at 86 and Vernon Tustin died in 2005 at the age of 68. All three men resided in Hundred. Terry and Vincent were both boilermakers. Terry Tustin served in the Army from 1965 to 1967. Vernon Tustin served in Korea. Vincent Tustin's obituary doesn't mention where he served in the Army. 'He was a jack of all trades,' the obituary said about Terry Tustin. 'He loved to help other people fix and repair things. He loved his old cars and blue grass and country and western music. He also loved hunting, fishing, and spending time with his grandchildren and great-grandchildren.' DeVault said the idea to honor the Tustin brothers by naming bridges after them came from Sheedy, who is a military veteran. His father was at Pearl Harbor when the Japanese attacked on Dec. 7, 1941. DeVault said he wanted to sponsor the bill because there's a lot of families that put their members on the line. The idea his family could be ripped away by war troubles DeVault. A similar fear made the basis of the 1998 Steven Spielberg film saving 'Private Ryan,' which itself was based on the loss of two of the Niland brothers in WWII. The U.S. Army itself instituted the sole survivor policy, after all five Sullivan brothers perished after their ship was sunk in an attack. DeVault said Fairmont had its own group of brothers who served in WWII, the Monell brothers. He said seven of them served in the war in different theaters. One of them, Frankie, later operated a bar supper club in East Side. Bridges make good memorials, DeVault said. 'It's everlasting,' he said. 'Anybody that drives the road or sees the bridge or road name, from what I understand in perpetuity, gives a living legacy even though they're gone. It's kind of a cool thing, I think. I look at those bridge names and often wonder, what's the story?' House Speaker Roger Hanshaw referred the resolutions to committee for further discussion.
Yahoo
30-01-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Greg Jordan: The sun is shining but winter is far from over
Jan. 30—Today I actually walked outdoors without a hat when I stopped for coffee on my way to the newsroom. I didn't have to suit up like an astronaut and put on ice cleats just to walk to my car. When the sun came up Wednesday morning, I was seeing a blue sky. I actually saw blue skies when I started work Monday morning, too. For the first time in weeks, I didn't feel like I was in one of those National Geographic's specials about Alaska. Yes, there are still snow piles all over the place, but they're actually melting. A lot of roads are a dusty gray and white thanks to all the salt that had to be spread so they would stay open, but the salty dust testifies to all the hard work plow drivers put in for weeks when snow storms with a dash of arctic air hit the region. A lot of us would have been marooned for days at a time without all those road hours plow drivers spent clearing West Virginia and Virginia's highways and roadways. High winds played over the region earlier this week, but when I checked the Appalachian Power Outage Map, there were only a few customers without power. That's a far cry from the thousands of Virginians and West Virginians that dealt with no power and no heat during single-digit temperatures earlier this month. The idea of power line crews working out in the wind and cold to restore service reminded me of the conditions America's soldiers had to deal with back in 1944 when Germany launched a surprise attack that became the Battle of the Bulge. That surprise offense happened during one of the coldest winters Europe had seen in years. Line workers had to deal with similar conditions while they worked to replace broken power polls and fallen power lines. Then there are the officers of law enforcement, firefighters, 911 dispatchers and rescue squad crews who kept answering calls when winter conditions were keeping thousands of people at home. Emergencies didn't stop when the snow and cold arrived. Many of us have heard the saying that everything is great or small only by comparison. I still remember a story my dad told me years ago. He was an engineer at the West Virginia Department of Highways and occasionally he was visited by colleagues from other states and even other countries. These meetings were a chance to share ideas and compare experiences. Well, one day dad was expecting some engineers with the Alaska Department of Highways. It was early spring and the high temperature was around 72 degrees or so that day. When the guests from Alaska arrived, they were remarking about how "hot" it was that day and asked if he could turn on the air conditioner. Two weeks ago I was writing weather story after weather story. Every day I was seeing single-digit nighttime temperatures and daytime highs in the 20s, low 30s or even lower. Now the forecasts feature sunny skies and daytime highs in the mid-40s to mid-50s. Yes, rain is in the forecast tonight and Friday, but the expected high Friday is 54 degrees. That forecast is Myrtle Beach compared to what hit this region for a couple of weeks. Of course, winter isn't officially over until March 20, so there are still chances for getting more blasts of cold or snowstorms arriving just in time to ruin a weekend. We also have to remember that the world's weather system doesn't recognize the official start and stop dates for the seasons. People who have lived in Mercer County and the surrounding region all their lives have told me that some of the worst snowstorms they can remember happened in late March and even in April. Suddenly, we have to get out the winter coats and boots again and find the snow shovels again. This possibility means snowplow drivers and power line crews can't relax just yet and first responders know they need to be ready if the weather takes a dramatic turn and more snow storms arrive. Well, we need to stay alert, too. Yes, the sun is shining and the skies are blue, but winter is still here.
