Latest news with #WestVirginiaDivisionofHighways
Dominion Post
10-07-2025
- Automotive
- Dominion Post
Three-way agreement approved for $135 million Exit 155 project
MORGANTOWN — The old proverb teaches that a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. On Wednesday, the West Virginia Division of Highways, Monongalia County Commission and developer WestRidge took the critical first step down what promises to be a long and difficult road toward a new I-79 Exit 155 interchange. In short, they sorted out the money. In a meeting attended remotely by Secretary of Transportation Todd Rumbaugh and Deputy Secretary Michael DeMers, the commission signed off on a three-way agreement that spelled out how the $135 million project budget will be covered. About half the cost – $67.2 million – will be provided by the state. Another 40%, or $54.3 million, will come through the US Department of Transportation MEGA Grant awarded in 2024, and the final 10%, totaling approximately $13.5 million, will be provided locally by WestRidge and the county. The local contribution includes design dollars already spent. As has been reported, the project will include new bridges carrying I-79 over Chaplin Hill Road, a new divergent diamond interchange, a westbound flyover at the intersection of Chaplin Hill and U.S. Route 19 to help clear heavy traffic leaving Morgantown, and a multi-modal path from the rail-trail in Star City to The Gateway. Improvements to Chaplin Hill Road up to the interstate will also be included. Exit 155 in Star City. 5-14-21 GH Ryan Lynch, representing WestRidge, noted the agreement harkens back to the three-way deal that got I-79 Exit 153 built and paid off in record time. Because of that experience, Lynch said both the county and the development team at WestRidge recognize when they have a willing partner in Charleston after years of false starts and half steps. 'With this administration and this DOH leadership, I feel very confident that we do, and that we're finally going to be able to really move this forward towards groundbreaking,' Lynch said. Lynch's comments summed up a reoccuring talking point – the renewed hope in Monongalia County brought on by new leadership and direction from the governor's office, the transportation secretary's office and DOH District 4 headquarters in Bridgeport. Specifically, the commission has lauded Gov. Patrick Morrisey's pledge to allocate funding and project support based on data, not politics. 'There's been a real change, and we've noticed it. We're now being told, and finally seen as an integral part of the state and economic development,' Commissioner Tom Bloom said, later adding, 'Where I'm excited, this is the first time that the first big project coming out of the state is in the north central area. I think that is probably a bigger surprise than anything else we've done. There's a new sheriff in town down there in transportation. I believe data-driven is key, and I believe we are now in the eyes and ears of Charleston and I can only see better things happening in the future. I appreciate that.' In a press release, Morrisey called the public-private partnership 'a model of what we can accomplish to invest in our infrastructure and grow economic development across the state.' Exit 155 and Chaplin Hill Road serve as the primary gateway to Morgantown, WVU, WVU Medicine and Mon Health Medical Center. It is the first I-79 exit south of the state line. Even so, parts of the interchange fail during peak travel times. The failure is particularly evident, and dangerous, during large sporting events and the increasingly large and frequent events hosted by Mylan Park. The state has pledged to install temporary traffic lights at the interchange's entrance and exit ramps until the reconfiguration project is complete. It was recently explained that those lights likely won't be in place until the end of the year. 'As you all have said, this is a gateway to West Virginia. It is the gateway to WVU, and it really needs to be a showcase. I think this project is going to take it to the next level and really help things out,' Rumbaugh said. While no timeline was offered during the presentation, the $54.3 million federal grant comes with a 2028 deadline, meaning those dollars will likely be spent first. Commissioner Sean Sikora said the 'big beautiful deal' is just the first step of many. 'This is the first step. We've got a lot of work to do, but we've got this memorialized, and we also have our marching orders to move forward. Our public is going to start seeing progress,' Sikora said. 'It's going to be two, three, four, five years, but we are working on it and we're phasing it so we can show progress and access those federal funds. I'm really excited to get this thing moving forward.'
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
County commissioners concerned about West Virginia transportation priorities
BLUEFIELD – Changes at the West Virginia Division of Highways and Department of Transportation that the governor announced earlier this week have made local county commissioners think about how those changes could impact their constituents. Speaking at a Bridgeport press conference streamed over social media, Gov. Patrick Morrisey stood behind a lectern bearing the sign Better Roads & Bridges as he said that they are connections for every part of life in the state, but that there are problems with this infrastructure. 'But what we have uncovered are mismanaged funds, mounting debt, and basic roads and bridges falling apart,' he said. 'That is why I'm unveiling a major course-correction for our state's transportation policies. A better, safer, and more efficient transportation system starts with fixing what we already have and making sure it lasts.' The core condition of West Virginia's roads and bridges must be addressed, Morrisey said. 'We're here to talk about something very important for West Virginia,' he said. 'The state of our roads and bridges is critical. It affects everything we do. Our ability to connect with one another. Our ability to drive to work, what we do when we go out to restaurants, how we live, how we play. We need to have a strong infrastructure if our state is to compete. I've talked a lot about having West Virginia compete with the other states that we touch. Certainly infrastructure is a critical part of that,' Morrisey said. 'And I don't need to tell you about the condition of the roads and bridges in West Virginia. It's not what people deserve, so we have to change that.' The highway and bridge conditions are symptoms of much larger problems with the state highway system, he said. 'The first issue we found was with the financial management of the department of transportation and the division of highways,' Morrisey said. 'When I came into office, what I found most alarming was that the DOT seemed to be basically out of money. If you look at the Roads to Prosperity that was a 30-year bond, effectively all of the money – a little bit wasn't – all the money was effectively committed in seven years. The public didn't know that. Now I'm here to tell you that the Roads to Prosperity money, it's all gone in term that it's not available. It's effectively committed.' Morrisey said this policy goes against what the state's federal counterparts say about how to handle federal highway funding. 'It actually got to the point where the federal government came to our administration very early in our tenure and said if West Virginia did not change the way it manages its highway system, they were going to reduce the amount of federal funds that are coming to our state,' Morrisey said. 'It's pretty significant. And that reduction in funding would seriously reduce the number of highways and bridges that we are able to fund each year.' 'Basically, the state was spending so much on some of the new highways without a clear plan for getting them done,' he said. 'A basic look at our financial numbers made it obvious that we can't even afford the highways that are on the books. So we're going to solve that problem and we're going to solve a few others.' Morrisey said to start fixing problems and better manage bridges and roads, he has directed the DOT to immediately implement the following measures including refocusing resources on long-overdue maintenance; reduce administrative overhead and invest those savings into the state's roads and bridges; protect core maintenance funding warning that failure to do so would jeopardize long-term stability. 'I appreciate Gov. Morrisey's leadership and his strong support for transportation and infrastructure in West Virginia,' Todd Rumbaugh, Secretary of Transportation said later in a press release. 'Our focus will remain on preserving our existing system, maintaining the roads and bridges that West Virginians count on every day, and ensuring the safety of the traveling public and the strength of our workforce.' Members of the Mercer County Commission expressed concerns about the changes to the DOT after hearing the governor's announcement. One concern was the possible halting of a highway project going through southern West Virginia. 'Yea, you know, specifically the King Coal Highway,' said County Commission President Bill Archer said after the commission's meeting Tuesday. 'That's something that would be really an opening not only for the people in Mercer County but also for the people in McDowell County and Wyoming County, the places that it touches.' Halting the highway project could impact efforts to extend the Mercer County Airport's runway, Archer said. Fill dirt from the highway's construction was going towards that project. 'For our perspective, we're trying to work with a contractor now to extend our runway at the Mercer County Airport, which would enable us to have jet traffic in there again which would increase the potential for bringing in tourists by that. We have a good plan in place and we've been working with contractors trying to work out the details, the dirt that they're moving, to be fill dirt for the extension project,' Archer said. 'We're working in conjunction with the City of Princeton as well as the City of Bluefield and developers in that area in order to be able to do that.' Stopping construction would also impact other counties. 'McDowell County has been through a tremendous challenge and if we don't complete that highway, it could be a tremendous challenge for people in the future,' Archer said. Commissioner Brian Blankenship he was thinking about how counties would be expected to participate in road projects. 'Definitely,' Blankenship said. 'There were no details that were given in that public announcement (Tuesday). On the surface it looked like, until we hear more from his department of administration, that somewhere down the road they would like to see counties and the municipalities start taking care of the road systems. Well, as far as counties, that's something we haven't had to do since back in the 1920s and 1930s.' 'So naturally, that's something that is not budgeted for,' Blankenship said. 'I mean, we're running a tight ship now and we've had a moratorium now on funding requests for several months and then all of sudden we're to be expecting or possibly the potential of taking care of our local state roads? We need a lot more details. We hope that cooler heads will prevail and come up with some kind of solution to where that burden is not being placed on the counties or the cities because we don't have the monies budgeted for those kind of things.' Counties need more avenues for raising revenue, Blankenship said. 'A lot of our counties of course we've been asking the Legislature for giving us the ability, putting it on the ballot and letting the people decide, it would be nice to do these extra projects and thing,' he said. One concern is how counties will pay if they are expected to help fund local infrastructure projects. 'Money is going to be the issue. Where does the money come from?' Blankenship asked. 'If the Legislature would ever give the counties the ability to earn additional revenue, if those extra burdens are going to be placed on us as far as taking care of the roads and things like that, we need extra revenue sources. That's just the cut and dry of it. ' The primary revenue source that most counties have now are property taxes. 'That's it. They (Legislature) have strangled most of our counties in the entire state in not giving anyone the ability to raise additional revenue when you have big projects,' Blankenship said. 'We would love to do so many more water and sewer projects for our communities because from what I understand when I come onto the county seat Jan. 1, you know, Mercer County on 60, low 60 some percent developed for water and sewer. Well, you have to match a lot of these grants and things with 20%. Where does that money come from? We just don't have the money tree out back to where we can fund these things we would just love to do for our populace.' 'If indeed the governor is really looking at pushing some of those burdens on top of strained budgets, we have to have the flexibility to earn additional revenues to offset that,' Blankenship said. 'That's just the way it is.' Contact Greg Jordan at gjordan@
Yahoo
03-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Taylor County road becomes latest casualty of mine activity in Thornton area
GRAFTON, (WBOY) — The West Virginia Division of Highways (WVDOH) cites mine activity as the cause for a recent road closure in Taylor County after a road slip left a large hole in Glade Run Road/CR 52, rendering it unusable by vehicles 'until further notice.' The map above shows the area of Glade Run where the road slip occurred. The closure was announced on Friday, May 30, in a press release from the WVDOH: 'There will be a road closure on County Route 52, Glade Run Road, starting at milepost 3.23, beginning today, Friday, May 30, 2025, until further notice, for a slip that resulted in unsafe road surface for travel due to mining operations,' the release said. 'The alternate routes are as follows: County Route 09, Knottsville Road, County Route 52/3, Hovatter Road, to County Route 54/2, Thomas Farm Road, to County Route 54, Eby Road, to US 50, George Washington Highway. It is advised that the heavier traffic utilize County Route 09, Knottsville Road via traveling into town.' At the site, a reporter on scene observed a steady stream of water flowing through the slipped area. The closure of Glade Run comes just three weeks after drivers raised concerns over a section of Route 50 in Taylor County between Thornton Hill and Eby Road also due to mine subsidence. On May 14, 12 News reported that 'Rough Road Ahead' signs were posted in the area where Route 50 had partially collapsed. Sections of the road were blocked off with cones while flaggers directed traffic. An engineer from the WVDOH District 4 confirmed that a section of Route 50 was experiencing 'minor subsidence from recent mining operations.' But outside of damage to public roads, private property owners are also seeing damage to their land and buildings. On April 14, John Christopher, a Pennsylvania resident who used to hunt frequently in Taylor County, said that large fissures had opened up across his property and caused some structural damage to the house he built there. The damage to the house has been mitigated with temporary measures, but Christopher said the subsidence in the area is only worsening over time, even after ongoing remediation efforts by CORE Natural Resources. Since CORE began operations in the last year, Christopher said many of his neighbors have had to leave their homes due to the risk of land slips or methane buildup, which can be deadly indoors. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Fairmont's Everest Drive to get completely newly-designed bridge
FAIRMONT — After waiting for two years, replacing the Everest Drive Bridge is within sight. City Manager Travis Blosser broke the news at Tuesday night's City Council meeting. Blosser told council the city has received the first set of plans for the new bridge. The old bridge will be demolished. 'It's going to be good, especially for the truck drivers that have been having to take alternate routes and making really impossible turns through the City, and the businesses that are dealing with that as well,' Council Member Rebecca Moran said. 'Along that route, it's gonna' alleviate a lot of stuff to get that done, and having the DOH take care of that financially is a big help to us.' The bridge resides in Moran's district three. The project as a whole is being spearheaded by the West Virginia Division of Highways. The US Department of Transportation will fund the project through funds delivered to the state of West Virginia, thanks to the previous president's infrastructure bill. Prior to the act, the state and city would have been required to split the cost of the project 80/20, Blosser said. Blosser said the reason it has taken so long to make progress on the bridge is because there's a lot of processes that DOH has had to go through. The state has thousands of bridges DOH is responsible for, and timeframes DOH has to adhere to when it comes to fixing those bridges as well. However, Blosser said City Council made it clear the bridge was one of the projects they wanted to see movement on, so the city began working toward that goal. 'What's the saying, squeaky wheel gets the grease?' Blosser said. 'As a city, we've been squeaking a lot. We have been building relationships with West Virginia DOH, and that is paying dividends for us of having a positive working relationship with them.' Blosser is hopeful the project will get underway in the next several months. The nation as a whole earned a C average when it comes to infrastructure in the country, according a report released by the American Society of Civil Engineers. Bridges themselves earned a C grade as well, while roads earned a D+. However, the Biden administration's focus on infrastructure began moving the needle toward better grades. The New York Times reported that since the last report four years ago, half of the 18 categories tracked in the report received improved grades. However, President Donald Trump froze government spending under that law in January. Trump's freezes of federal programs across the government encountered much legal resistance, and one lawsuit filed in March by Democracy Forward challenged the freeze on the Infrastructure Jobs Act. Fast forward to May, and it appears municipalities can access those funds again. Trump's freezes in other areas have been successfully challenged in court. Council is also setting up a new ordinance that will create a private outdoor area within the city that will allow residents to carry alcoholic drinks outside of a bar to another establishment. Blosser said similar ordinances at neighboring cities have already met with success, as the designated area allows municipalities to promote local businesses as well. 'You'll be able to get a drink in a PODA cup,' Blosser said. 'It has to be in that logo PODA cup and they'll be able to go to another business establishment. They could walk across the street and go to Hannah's Clay Creations, if the business decides that, hey if people are doing clay work and you want to bring your drink with you and enjoy your time, it establishes a lot more commerce. Instead of somebody visiting one business, they start hitting multiple businesses.' The next council meeting is scheduled for May 27.
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Bridge on winter '26 timeline, Harmony Grove still under review
May 12—MORGANTOWN — A representative of the West Virginia Division of Highways said the state's current expectation is the Morgantown Industrial Park access road and bridge project will be completed in the winter of 2026. The Dominion Post reached out to the DOH for a project update and to ask when it's expected the project may force the temporary closure of the Mon River Rail-Trail. According to information provided by DOH engineers Jason Foster and Mike Witherow, details about exactly when the trail will be closed will be worked out by the contractor, Triton Construction, and the Mon River Trails Conservancy, the nonprofit that manages and maintains the trail network. However, Foster previously explained that both the project's contract documents and the National Environmental Policy Act, or NEPA, are very clear that the trail will only be closed during times of significant overhead work, or when the safety of trail users is a concern. According to the DOH, steel isn't expected to start going up until early 2026. "The contractor is currently installing erosion control. Tree removal and installation of a sediment pond are expected to start soon, " the DOH explained on April 29. The DOH said the $59.7 million cost estimate remains in effect with no changes expected. The project will improve the industrial park's existing Rail Street, cross the river on a multi-span bridge, and join U.S. 119 (Grafton Road) near Scott Avenue. A connection to Smithtown Road will also be built and a portion of Master Graphics Road — connecting to River Road — will be improved and paved. Around this time last year, representatives of the DOH said the entire process had been "extremely accelerated " out of a concern for public safety due to the increasing number of large trucks accessing the industrial park. Beyond public safety, the state also has a promise to keep. For the last four-plus years, the West Virginia Department of Transportation, Enrout Properties and the Monongalia County Commission have been working toward the construction of a new Harmony Grove interchange to provide direct interstate access to the upper portion of the Morgantown Industrial Park. The Harmony Grove interchange was promised by the state to help land the massive Mountaintop Beverage facility in West Virginia. Trucks started rolling in and out of the 330, 000 square feet that comprise Phase I of the bottling plant in May 2023, but due to the complexities of the federal regulatory process involving interstate projects, the DOH couldn't make good on the interchange in a timely manner. So, in July 2023 the state announced that it was not only going to push forward with the Harmony Grove interchange, but build a bridge across the Monongahela River to the MIP in the meantime. The DOH says details of the Harmony Grove project remain under review by the Federal Highway Administration. "We continue to work with both the West Virginia Department of Highways and the Federal Highway Administration on, we think, the final set of comments as it relates to the Harmony Grove interchange project, " Enrout Properties co-owner Glenn Adrian said during his most recent update to the Monongalia County Commission. "We remain very optimistic that project is continuing to move forward. It is a very complicated process to get approved, but we think we are close to getting that approval."
