Coalfields Expressway

[seicer]

With current funding, you can expect to see the segment from the Kentucky state line to US 460 near Grundy finished. It's a tougher sell for a new terrain alignment from there towards Welch. Considering Virginia can't even get moving on building Corridor H in their state, completing an expressway to the state line like what will be done in Wardensville won't exactly expedite any construction.

[rickmastfan67]

Breaks Park Road is signed for both US 460 (right) and VA 80 (left).

OSM is currently showing that VA-80 has been rerouted up to Coalfields (in this changeset) to end, and no longer goes to the KY border.  I've reached out to that OSM user about this to see when this might have happened, since StreetView is useless in this area (hasn't been around since 2012).

[hbelkins]

Breaks Park Road is signed for both US 460 (right) and VA 80 (left).

OSM is currently showing that VA-80 has been rerouted up to Coalfields (in this changeset) to end, and no longer goes to the KY border.  I've reached out to that OSM user about this to see when this might have happened, since StreetView is useless in this area (hasn't been around since 2012).

You mean Corridor Q.

When I was last there, a few months ago, VA 80 is still signed all the way to the Kentucky state line, where it becomes KY 80.

2023 Jan-June photos - 1038 by H.B. Elkins, on Flickr

Start at this photo and work forward for more signage photos from earlier this year.

[hbelkins]

(Also crossposted in the Corridor Q thread...)

https://www.wymt.com/2023/11/14/caution-urged-after-new-road-opens-connecting-states-around-breaks-interstate-park/?fbclid=IwAR3-jutauu9Mz-dYEYXXUiUPobMYQxdbBmH4nQPeKKO0zY3Ys18CKpMJ0UA

(There's a unisign US 460 marker at the end of the VA 80 connector that has erroneous VA 460 signs posted.)

I had every intention of making it down there over the long weekend to check the new road out, but I got hit with either a nasty stomach bug or an intense case of food poisoning the Tuesday night before Thanksgiving and was pretty well out of commission the rest of the week and the weekend. God willing, I plan to go check it out Saturday.

Google Maps has the new alignment now visible. It ends at Virginia SR 604.

[VTGoose]

From today's Cardinal News (https://cardinalnews.org/2024/03/15/7-million-in-federal-funding-for-coalfields-expressway-project-is-well-timed-official-says)

"The news this week that the Coalfields Expressway project will get $7 million in federal funding couldn't have come at a better time, the head of the authority overseeing the project said Thursday.

The money will be used to add two more lanes to a nearly 5-mile, two-lane section being constructed between Grundy and Southern Gap in Buchanan County, according to Jonathan Belcher, executive director of the Virginia Coalfields Expressway Authority.

The Virginia Department of Transportation was getting ready to start paving the road, and the paving can now be done as a four-lane, Belcher said."

"For more than 30 years, the Coalfields Expressway was discussed as a way to open an economic lifeline to Buchanan, Dickenson and Wise counties and connect the communities there. The project was formally announced in 2002, but it wasn't until November 2023 that its first section, from the Breaks Interstate Park to the Southern Gap industrial park in Buchanan County, opened. Those 2.57 miles of the expressway overlap with 8.7 miles of the U.S. 460/U.S. 121 Corridor Q road project."

[seicer]

I hope it's not more of the four-lane undivided road they have built.

[Life in Paradise]

I hope it's not more of the four-lane undivided road they have built.

The way I was reading between the lines, I would almost guarantee that it is simply a four lane road separated by a double yellow line.  It would cost a lot more if it was divided by a median.

[seicer]

When I was driving the newest segment to open versus what's closer to the Kentucky border, I was not sure there was enough right-of-way for a four-lane divided facility, either. I think the four-lane undivided portions will come back to haunt VDOT in the future, considering that it's essentially a freeway in Kentucky (with an unrealistic 55 MPH speed limit) degrading to an undivided road (with an equally unrealistic 55 MPH speed limit) in Virginia.

[VTGoose]

From the Cardinal News news briefs:

First signs for Coalfields Expressway go up
The Virginia Department of Transportation put up signs last week identifying the first miles of the Coalfields Expressway in Virginia. The signs were installed at the suggestion of the Virginia Coalfields Expressway Authority, to match similar signage found along the Coalfields Expressway in West Virginia. One of the new Virginia signs is at the end of the bridge at Grassy at the Kentucky state line and the other one is just as you turn left off of Route 744 going toward the Breaks Interstate Park.

https://cardinalnews.org/2024/07/29/damascus-hires-first-ever-town-manager (scroll to the bottom for a photo).

Bruce in Blacksburg

[seicer]

No bicycles? That's unfortunate, considering that most West Virginia sections (like all Corridor routes) are bicycle routes (and nice ones at that).

[WillWeaverRVA]

No bicycles? That's unfortunate, considering that most West Virginia sections (like all Corridor routes) are bicycle routes (and nice ones at that).

Virginia prohibits bicycles on highways it designates as limited-access (whether it's a freeway or not), which its section of the Coalfields Expressway is.

[Bitmapped]

From the Cardinal News news briefs:

First signs for Coalfields Expressway go up
The Virginia Department of Transportation put up signs last week identifying the first miles of the Coalfields Expressway in Virginia. The signs were installed at the suggestion of the Virginia Coalfields Expressway Authority, to match similar signage found along the Coalfields Expressway in West Virginia. One of the new Virginia signs is at the end of the bridge at Grassy at the Kentucky state line and the other one is just as you turn left off of Route 744 going toward the Breaks Interstate Park.

https://cardinalnews.org/2024/07/29/damascus-hires-first-ever-town-manager (scroll to the bottom for a photo).

Bruce in Blacksburg

If I'm understanding correctly, part of the route in Virginia signed as the Coalfields Expressway isn't actually the Coalfields Expressway. It's just Corridor Q.

[hbelkins]

From the Cardinal News news briefs:

First signs for Coalfields Expressway go up
The Virginia Department of Transportation put up signs last week identifying the first miles of the Coalfields Expressway in Virginia. The signs were installed at the suggestion of the Virginia Coalfields Expressway Authority, to match similar signage found along the Coalfields Expressway in West Virginia. One of the new Virginia signs is at the end of the bridge at Grassy at the Kentucky state line and the other one is just as you turn left off of Route 744 going toward the Breaks Interstate Park.

https://cardinalnews.org/2024/07/29/damascus-hires-first-ever-town-manager (scroll to the bottom for a photo).

Bruce in Blacksburg

If I'm understanding correctly, part of the route in Virginia signed as the Coalfields Expressway isn't actually the Coalfields Expressway. It's just Corridor Q.

Correct. The photo in the linked story was taken at the Virginia/Kentucky line, which isn't the Coalfields Expressway.

It seems there's a bunch of signs sprouting up there as compared to when I was there back in December.

[Cody606]

From the Cardinal News news briefs:

First signs for Coalfields Expressway go up
The Virginia Department of Transportation put up signs last week identifying the first miles of the Coalfields Expressway in Virginia. The signs were installed at the suggestion of the Virginia Coalfields Expressway Authority, to match similar signage found along the Coalfields Expressway in West Virginia. One of the new Virginia signs is at the end of the bridge at Grassy at the Kentucky state line and the other one is just as you turn left off of Route 744 going toward the Breaks Interstate Park.

https://cardinalnews.org/2024/07/29/damascus-hires-first-ever-town-manager (scroll to the bottom for a photo).

Bruce in Blacksburg

If I'm understanding correctly, part of the route in Virginia signed as the Coalfields Expressway isn't actually the Coalfields Expressway. It's just Corridor Q.

Correct. The photo in the linked story was taken at the Virginia/Kentucky line, which isn't the Coalfields Expressway.

It seems there's a bunch of signs sprouting up there as compared to when I was there back in December.

I've been up there twice this week. I wish I had gotten more photos of the road but the wildlife took precedent. Forgot to snap the Expressway signs, but I did get one of US-121 which I see you've already posted.

I saw above that it's supposed to connect to Grundy in 2027, but I was curious about when the connection to the currently KY-3174 that runs through Greasy Creek/Wolfpit might be?

[seicer]

Well, that would be US 460/ARC Corridor Q. The Coalfields Expressway splits off in Virginia - the average motorists won't know it unless they were keen on looking at the mile markers or route signs.

They are currently working on Sections 22 and 23—the Pond Creek Bridge and the Russell Fork Bridge at Beaver, with a total completion date of spring 2025. Work on Section 24, the final segment, began in February and encompasses the portion of Corridor Q from Marrowbone at KY 195 to the Russell Fork Bridge. Once all that is done, all of the open and existing sections of the highway will be repaved.

Related to the Coalfields Expressway, WVDOT has installed new blue corridor mile markers west of Beckley. They are similar to the ones on other corridor routes in the state, except that instead of a state shield with a corridor letter inside, it's just the route marker.

Remarkably, the Sophia-Mullens segment is still in near perfect condition. No dips, bumps, failing joints, or cracked slabs. It's amazing to note the difference in construction and pre-construction quality of Corridor H and the Coalfields Expressway and... US 35 and the King Coal Highway.

[seicer]

Yesterday, I did what is probably my last trip into the coalfields of West Virginia for quite a while (moving), and wanted to head towards Williamson for a project I am wrapping up on. Heading west from Beckley, I hit the Coalfields Expressway, which is still in just as good of a condition as when it was completed several years ago: no dips, bumps, or slab cracking. The only thing new and notable are blue mile markers similar to the ones on other corridor highways in the state, but instead of a state outline with the corridor letter, it's the WV 121 shield.

Work is well underway on the Coalfields Expressway around and north of Welch. It loosely follows old CR 12/2 from Capels going east before turning north and paralleling Indian Ridge (37.450377098749506, -81.58029852149897). I flew the drone west of FCI McDowell, and they are working on heavy grading to match the grading completed by the prison some 20 years ago (37.465188930352895, -81.56133940839145). The grading is severely overgrown, and it will take heavy machinery to log back to workable condition.

From the aerials, I can't tell where the King Coal Highway "volleyball" interchange will be any more (37.478876289141645, -81.55851975916515). I thought it would be near the Indian Ridge access road, but I could not make it out.

Further north, extensive work is ongoing towards WV 16 (37.50012811535315, -81.54641953409802). I did not see any work progressing past that point, but I suspect it will cross Indian Creek and continue on formerly mined sites that were part of Cleveland Cliffs Pinnacle Mine.

[hbelkins]

When I drove the section from Sophia to the old Slab Fork turnoff (the original extent of the route) the last time, I thought the pavement condition was not very good considering how lightly traveled it is. While there was not really any settling to the extent that we've seen on US 35 or US 52, the pavement itself was rough.

[Stephane Dumas]

Since it's on Wikipedia, I don't know how reliable it is, but the exit list mention the junction of I-64/I-77 as the proposed northern terminus.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Route_121#Major_intersections

[seicer]

When I drove the section from Sophia to the old Slab Fork turnoff (the original extent of the route) the last time, I thought the pavement condition was not very good considering how lightly traveled it is. While there was not really any settling to the extent that we've seen on US 35 or US 52, the pavement itself was rough.

That got repaved last year. It was a thin overlay of the original asphalt pavement.

[Bitmapped]

Since it's on Wikipedia, I don't know how reliable it is, but the exit list mention the junction of I-64/I-77 as the proposed northern terminus.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Route_121#Major_intersections

That was the plan at one point, but the actual likelihood of it happening is approaching 0%. There's no real justification for building that segment when WV 16/Robert C. Byrd Drive is more than adequate.

[seicer]

Exploring the Coalfields Expressway in West Virginia

The Coalfields Expressway, designated as U.S. Route 121, is a proposed 108-mile highway that will connect Interstates 64 and 77 in Beckley, West Virginia, to U.S. Route 23 in Pound, Virginia. Check the above link for a history and more photos.

1 Coalfields Expressway near Horsepen Ridge west of Crab Orchard and east of Mullens



2


3


4 At New Richmond along Center Ridge


5 Indian Ridge east of Welch


6


7


8 Location of the future King Coal Highway interchange


9


10

[vdeane]

1 Coalfields Expressway near Horsepen Ridge west of Crab Orchard and east of Mullens



2

Wow, these photos underscore just how empty that highway is.

[seicer]

It depends on where you are at. It is only a few years old and only connects to Mullens, so AADT figures will be lower. The following are the most recent:

• WV 121 near Interstate 64/77: 24,304/4,485 (auto/truck)
• WV 121 at Sophia and the WV 54 interchange: 17,035/1,186
• WV 121 east of Slab Fork: 4,526/340

But yes, it is generally an empty highway.

[Bitmapped]

It depends on where you are at. It is only a few years old and only connects to Mullens, so AADT figures will be lower. The following are the most recent:

• WV 121 near Interstate 64/77: 24,304/4,485 (auto/truck)
• WV 121 at Sophia and the WV 54 interchange: 17,035/1,186
• WV 121 east of Slab Fork: 4,526/340

But yes, it is generally an empty highway.

The first two entries are WV 16/Robert C. Byrd Drive, not WV 121. The road predates the Coalfields Expressway by decades.

The first section of the Coalfields Expressway, out to Slab Fork Road, gets some traffic because it functions as a bypass of Lester (for WV 54/WV 97 traffic) and Sophia (for WV 16) traffic. If you continue beyond that, you're on it all the way to Mullens because there is literally no other connection to the road network. I've driven this section three times now and have never seen more than a handful of cars in the 10-mile stretch.

The Slab Fork-Mullens section of the Coalfields Expressway should have been built last, if at all. It duplicates WV 54, which was constructed circa 1958-1965 and already provided a good high speed route to Mullens.

[Black-Man]

The Slab Fork-Mullens section of the Coalfields Expressway should have been built last, if at all. It duplicates WV 54, which was constructed circa 1958-1965 and already provided a good high speed route to Mullens.

Yes, but wasn't this section essentially 2 contracts, which allowed for the extraction of the coal in the first contract (at a discount) and the "paving" contract was let years later?

And the next 'section' is heading into the Guyandotte river valley where the mining has been more extensive due to its proximity to the railways (N&W/VGN) and ease to extract. Consol's Itmann mine was/is there (and that is a BIG operation) and there are several active operations in the immediate area which complicates highway building.