News:

Thank you for your patience during the Forum downtime while we upgraded the software. Welcome back and see this thread for some new features and other changes to the forum.

Main Menu

West Virginia

Started by logan230, October 16, 2014, 05:42:37 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

snowc



Bitmapped

Quote from: snowc on November 17, 2021, 10:22:20 AM
https://www.heraldmailmedia.com/story/news/2021/11/17/more-transit-options-could-come-washington-and-berkeley-counties-maryland-west-virginia/8622823002/
^ Link above is paywalled.  :banghead:
Possible Spur route of I81, along with public transit?  :hmmm:

WVDOH isn't building any spurs of I-81, and the state isn't going to pony up for more transit options to DC either. It's been hard enough to get money to maintain the existing MARC service to the Eastern Panhandle.

snowc

Quote from: Bitmapped on November 18, 2021, 09:34:44 PM
Quote from: snowc on November 17, 2021, 10:22:20 AM
https://www.heraldmailmedia.com/story/news/2021/11/17/more-transit-options-could-come-washington-and-berkeley-counties-maryland-west-virginia/8622823002/
^ Link above is paywalled.  :banghead:
Possible Spur route of I81, along with public transit?  :hmmm:

WVDOH isn't building any spurs of I-81, and the state isn't going to pony up for more transit options to DC either. It's been hard enough to get money to maintain the existing MARC service to the Eastern Panhandle.
And thats why I-181 will never be existent on the WV-9 freeway.  :no: :banghead:

SP Cook

WV Turnpike tolls will go up to a whopping $4.25/ per booth, with the annual pass going from $25 to $26.50, January 1st. 

Law allows a 5% increase every 3 years.

hbelkins

So, was the prediction that the new portion of US 52 near Bluefield would be open by this time accurate, or was it (as I expected) full of beans?


Government would be tolerable if not for politicians and bureaucrats.

Bitmapped

Quote from: hbelkins on November 22, 2021, 10:29:24 AM
So, was the prediction that the new portion of US 52 near Bluefield would be open by this time accurate, or was it (as I expected) full of beans?

I've not seen any announcements of ribbon-cuttings, or really any discussion period. My guess is it's still a ways off.

hbelkins

Saw where the widening project on the WV Turnpike at Beckley is finished, and people are already complaining about the pavement being rough.


Government would be tolerable if not for politicians and bureaucrats.

seicer

It's not technically finished - the final layer of pavement will be added next year. I had to drive it yesterday and found it to have six through lanes continuous in each direction with seven or eight lane segments to account for climbing lanes. Significant portions have just 4' right shoulders because of the climbing lanes which is commonplace elsewhere in the state, but some of these climbing lanes are essentially defacto extensions of the right lane which makes it an odd design choice.

Some new signage still remains to be added. Also odd that one of the new signs at the Harpers Rd. / SR 3 interchange states I-64/77 has two through lanes when it really has three.

74/171FAN

I drove through the I-81 widening project between Exits 8 (CR 32) and 12  (WV 45) southbound last night, and I saw traffic having three lanes headed northbound, but I was still stuck with only two lanes headed southbound for now.
I am now a PennDOT employee.  My opinions/views do not necessarily reflect the opinions/views of PennDOT.

hbelkins

Quote from: seicer on November 25, 2021, 09:49:08 AM
It's not technically finished - the final layer of pavement will be added next year.

So they're driving on base? Happens pretty often, but WVDOT could at least have mentioned in their Facebook post announcing the completion that final paving wasn't done yet.

If we open a new road with traffic running on base, with the final paving to be done under traffic, I always make it a point to mention that so drivers will expect rough pavement.


Government would be tolerable if not for politicians and bureaucrats.

seicer

They are also still enforcing the 55 MPH limit through the entire work zone even though there is zero activity and no work ongoing. Saw four troopers Wednesday.

Black-Man

Quote from: SP Cook on November 22, 2021, 09:39:26 AM
WV Turnpike tolls will go up to a whopping $4.25/ per booth, with the annual pass going from $25 to $26.50, January 1st. 

Law allows a 5% increase every 3 years.

Well... as a graduate of secondary education in West Virginia I am not surprised they couldn't figure out that a 5% increase would actually be $4.20 (and $26.25). Some things never change.

One thing they might be able to figure out, you keep charging more to drive a highway that for the most part is built on an alignment from 1955, the natives will indeed get restless.

Bitmapped

#312
Quote from: Black-Man on November 28, 2021, 10:18:19 PM
Quote from: SP Cook on November 22, 2021, 09:39:26 AM
WV Turnpike tolls will go up to a whopping $4.25/ per booth, with the annual pass going from $25 to $26.50, January 1st. 

Law allows a 5% increase every 3 years.

Well... as a graduate of secondary education in West Virginia I am not surprised they couldn't figure out that a 5% increase would actually be $4.20 (and $26.25). Some things never change.

One thing they might be able to figure out, you keep charging more to drive a highway that for the most part is built on an alignment from 1955, the natives will indeed get restless.

$4.25 is rounding to the nearest quarter. The new annual pass rate is $26.25, not $26.50.

A 5% increase every three years is at or below the rate of inflation. Plenty of other toll roads have similar increases. WV's cash tolls are higher than Ohio and Indiana, but below Maryland and way below what you see in Virginia and Pennsylvania. At any rate, the toll increases have been used to back bonds so they're not going anywhere.

seicer

Quote from: Black-Man on November 28, 2021, 10:18:19 PM
Quote from: SP Cook on November 22, 2021, 09:39:26 AM
WV Turnpike tolls will go up to a whopping $4.25/ per booth, with the annual pass going from $25 to $26.50, January 1st. 

Law allows a 5% increase every 3 years.

Well... as a graduate of secondary education in West Virginia I am not surprised they couldn't figure out that a 5% increase would actually be $4.20 (and $26.25). Some things never change.

One thing they might be able to figure out, you keep charging more to drive a highway that for the most part is built on an alignment from 1955, the natives will indeed get restless.

As bitmapped noted, they are rounded to the nearest quarter. No one wants to fumble for dimes and nickels. If you are that hurting for the extra quarter, try EZ-Pass.

But as for your second comment, there are plenty of interstates on alignments from the 1950s. Much of the infrastructure between Huntington and Charleston was built between 1958 and 1964. And for the most part, much of the infrastructure along the Turnpike was rebuilt or substantially overhauled, and looking at NBI reports, the bridges are generally in good or satisfactory condition. If you are referring to the curves - it was designed to a certain design speed for a particular era, much like any other highway that was built during that time. Over the years, segments have been straightened or rebuilt but if it isn't broke, why fix it?

The bonds being expended now serve the surrounding counties. It funded much of the (extensive) rebuilding and widening of WV 10, among many other projects. The move to de-toll the Turnpike keeps dying once legislators realize just how much money the Turnpike brings in and what it actually does for the surrounding counties whose transportation budgets are partly dependent upon its revenues.

SP Cook

The idea of "de tolling"  the Turnpike died with the governor's massive borrowing scheme "Roads to Prosperity"  .  Tolls must continue for more or less ever to pay for construction in other places in the state.

As to the idea that the Turnpike is not "broken" , well, yes it is.  Specifically the northern third of it was built by very limited blasting, as to not disrupt the existing two lanes.  The end result is a twisty, median-less, road with a 60 SL.  Other roads in the state, and in other states, were built over similar, or worse, topography with traditional blasting methods, resulting in much safer and higher speed roads.  The northern third of the Turnpike is essentially engineering malpractice.

GCrites

Imagine if WV was as allergic to full bench as Ohio.

Dirt Roads

Crossposted from the KYOVA thread to here...

Quote from: seicer on December 03, 2021, 09:44:14 AM
https://sports.yahoo.com/northern-bypass-used-push-roads-050100675.html (you know, from Yahoo Sports)

"Of the $273 million in projects dangled before voters in the run up to the Oct. 7, 2017 special election, $100 million was earmarked for a new I-79 connector, or "northern bypass, " which would provide an alternative to the congested portions of W.Va. 705 and Monongahela Boulevard and access a new interchange on I-79, north of the existing Exit 155.

Roughly 80 % of Monongalia County voters supported the constitutional amendment allowing for the sale of up to $1.6 billion in bonds for road repair and construction.

The first red flag went up in August 2020, when the project was pulled from the Roads to Prosperity line-up as it wouldn't be ready in time for bonding. Instead, it would be the target of federal transportation dollars."

I learned something new about the project today.

Quote from: Dirt Roads on December 03, 2021, 11:37:36 AM
Gosh, this has been needed since the "new" Mountaineer Field first opened in 1980.  I was disappointed that the DOH took the short route to connect the Mon-Fayette to I-68 when they desperately needed a new route across the northern part of Morgantown to relieve both Mountaineer Field traffic and provide northeast access to the Coliseum and the Evansdale Campus.

On a similar note, it still amazes me that much of the main access to Mountaineer Field isn't designated with a state route number.  I always thought the DOH should have multiplexed the WV-705 designation with US-119 along the Mileground and then continue on Cheat Road (LSR-857) to the Pierpont Road exit (Exit 7 of I-68).  At least these days the signs are marked "To WV-705".

seicer

I wasn't aware that they are now planning to replace the 60+ year old I-64 bridge over the Kanawha River at Nitro. I thought they were only going to build the new westbound span and leave the original eastbound span intact.

WVDOH to open new St. Albans entrance and exit ramps on Thursday as part of I-64 widening project


New westbound entrance and exit ramps for the St. Albans exit of Interstate 64 are scheduled to open to traffic by the end of the day on Thursday, Dec. 23, 2021, the West Virginia Division of Highways announced. The ramps are part of a massive widening project on I-64 funded through Gov. Jim Justice's $2.8 billion Roads to Prosperity highway construction and maintenance program.

The new ramps are part of a $224 million project to widen I-64 to six lanes from Nitro to the US 35 interchange near Scott Depot. The project also includes construction of a new bridge adjacent to the existing Nitro-St. Albans Bridge and replacing several smaller bridges between Nitro and Scott Depot.

Site work and construction on the project began in earnest in the spring of 2021 and required massive excavation and earth work. Contractors began blasting in the area over the summer.

The new westbound St. Albans interchange replaces the existing single bridge with two new bridges, one for traffic entering I-64 and the other for traffic getting off I-64. The new westbound entrance ramp bridge is 339 feet long, while the exit ramp bridge is 167 feet long.

Contractors were completing guardrail installation and striping work during the days leading up to opening the new ramps.

New eastbound and westbound bridges at Bills Creek opened to traffic in early December. Widening plans also include replacing bridges at Rocky Step, McCloud and at Nitro over WV 25.

Two new piers for the main Nitro-St. Albans bridge are nearly complete.

Plans call for building a new bridge just downstream of the existing Nitro-St. Albans Bridge to carry westbound traffic, then demolishing the existing bridge and replacing it with a new span using a portion of the existing bridge piers to carry eastbound traffic. Each new bridge will be four lanes wide to allow motorists to go from the St. Albans exit to the Nitro exist and from the Nitro exit to the St. Albans exit without having to merge into interstate traffic.

The entire project is expected to be complete in late 2024.

SP Cook

The article is talking about the replacement of the single bridge over I 64 that is a part of the St. Albans interchange, westbound, with two bridges.  The current mainline bridge will be rehabbed and converted into eastbound only, with a twin constructed for westbound. 

wriddle082

Quote from: SP Cook on December 31, 2021, 07:42:25 AM
The article is talking about the replacement of the single bridge over I 64 that is a part of the St. Albans interchange, westbound, with two bridges.  The current mainline bridge will be rehabbed and converted into eastbound only, with a twin constructed for westbound. 

The next to last paragraph talks about the Nitro-St. Albans I-64 bridge.

Quote
Plans call for building a new bridge just downstream of the existing Nitro-St. Albans Bridge to carry westbound traffic, then demolishing the existing bridge and replacing it with a new span using a portion of the existing bridge piers to carry eastbound traffic. Each new bridge will be four lanes wide to allow motorists to go from the St. Albans exit to the Nitro exist and from the Nitro exit to the St. Albans exit without having to merge into interstate traffic.

This had me scratching my head as well, so I checked out the project website last night https://nitro64.com and it seemed to be a bit vague on the project outline as well.  There are photos of current construction, but no type of sketches of what the finished product over the river will look like.


Tom958

Quote from: SP Cook on December 31, 2021, 07:42:25 AM
The article is talking about the replacement of the single bridge over I 64 that is a part of the St. Albans interchange, westbound, with two bridges.  The current mainline bridge will be rehabbed and converted into eastbound only, with a twin constructed for westbound.

I don't think so. To me it appears that the existing straight bridge over I-64 will be replaced by two curved ones, as shown in the photo accompanying the article and also on Streetview. The existing bridge could be retained in case they want to blast through that ridge to the northeast someday.


Bitmapped

Quote from: Tom958 on December 31, 2021, 12:15:30 PM
Quote from: SP Cook on December 31, 2021, 07:42:25 AM
The article is talking about the replacement of the single bridge over I 64 that is a part of the St. Albans interchange, westbound, with two bridges.  The current mainline bridge will be rehabbed and converted into eastbound only, with a twin constructed for westbound.

I don't think so. To me it appears that the existing straight bridge over I-64 will be replaced by two curved ones, as shown in the photo accompanying the article and also on Streetview. The existing bridge could be retained in case they want to blast through that ridge to the northeast someday.



The existing mainline bridge over the Kanawha River will be rehabbed to serve eastbound traffic. A twin is being built for westbound traffic.

The green bridge pictured above at the St. Albans interchange is being removed. Its span isn't wide enough to accommodate 6 lanes for I-64 underneath without eliminating shoulders. It is being replaced with the two curved ramps which will eliminate the existing stop sign for the I-64 WB onramp.

wriddle082

Quote from: Tom958 on December 31, 2021, 12:15:30 PM
Quote from: SP Cook on December 31, 2021, 07:42:25 AM
The article is talking about the replacement of the single bridge over I 64 that is a part of the St. Albans interchange, westbound, with two bridges.  The current mainline bridge will be rehabbed and converted into eastbound only, with a twin constructed for westbound.

I don't think so. To me it appears that the existing straight bridge over I-64 will be replaced by two curved ones, as shown in the photo accompanying the article and also on Streetview. The existing bridge could be retained in case they want to blast through that ridge to the northeast someday.



I think they're doing all the blasting they care to in order to plow the new 64 westbound bridge and lanes through.  That's a pretty tall hillside as it is.  If somebody wanted to go up in that direction, I'm sure there is access from either WV 817 itself or from US 35 a couple of miles west of here.

Tom958

Quote from: wriddle082 on December 31, 2021, 02:12:17 PMI think they're doing all the blasting they care to in order to plow the new 64 westbound bridge and lanes through.  That's a pretty tall hillside as it is.  If somebody wanted to go up in that direction, I'm sure there is access from either WV 817 itself or from US 35 a couple of miles west of here.

There's no reason to cross that hill. Also, I'm being dumb: the new westbound-to-southbound bridge is at the same elevation as the old bridge, and the new bridges span the future new westbound roadway, which the old bridge obstructs. Of course the old bridge will be removed.

seicer

Right - this will become a free-flowing interchange. Traffic often backed up to the mainline with traffic waiting to turn onto the access road down to WV 817.

I do find it odd that there are no sketches or renderings of the new bridge over the Kanawha. The new westbound river piers aren't any further apart than the eastbound river piers (I have photos still to post).



Opinions expressed here on belong solely to the poster and do not represent or reflect the opinions or beliefs of AARoads, its creators and/or associates.