WV: US 52, King Coal Highway news and development

[seicer]

King Coal's future cloudy
By Charles Owens, Bluefield Daily Telegraph, April 18, 2009

BLUEFIELD – Spanning more than 160 feet above Route 19, construction on the new King Coal Highway interstate bridge in Bluefield is nearing a completion.

The project construction is about 80 percent complete, and the twin interstate bridges spanning across Route 19 and the Norfolk Southern railroad are now connected. However, the future of the proposed interstate corridor remains clouded.

The new bridge, which connects to the existing K.A. Ammar Interchange in Bluefield, comes to an abrupt end near a large mountain at Stoney Ridge. While local officials had hoped federal stimulus dollars would allow the highway construction to continue toward Route 123 and the Mercer County Airport, all of the state's Third Congressional District highway construction stimulus dollars were awarded to Raleigh County instead for the East Beckley Bypass by state Transportation Secretary Paul Mattox.

Now, some officials are wondering if the future interstate corridor construction will remain stalled at the mountainous detour.

Not so, according to King Coal Highway Executive Director Mike Mitchem.

Although the local Interstate 73/74 corridor didn't receive federal stimulus dollars, the Mercer County segment of the road could still be funded in the new federal highway transportation bill currently being crafted by Congress, Mitchem said.

"We feel something will come out of it,"  Mitchem said of the new federal transportation bill. "And we are still hopeful that we will also get some future stimulus funding for it. We are hopeful."

Mitchem, and members of the King Coal Highway Authority, have asked Sen. Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va., U.S. Rep. Nick Rahall, D-W.Va., and U.S. Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., for $70 million in federal funds to create a usable segment of the interstate corridor from the new bridge to the Mercer County Airport.

In the future, Mitchem said the entire interstate corridor will extend all the way to Chicago. It is estimated that more than 21 percent of the entire U.S. population will utilize the future I-73/74 corridor.

Mitchem said construction on the new $16 million twin interstate bridges in Bluefield is nearing an 80 percent completion level. He said work is currently underway to complete the bridge girders.

"And they are working on the decking and rebar too,"  he said. "According to how the weather goes, within a month they will be pouring the concrete deck setting. It looks like by October it will be finished."

When completed at some point in the future, the King Coal Highway will travel 95 miles through Mingo, Wayne, Wyoming, McDowell and Mercer counties with the Tolsia segment from Williamson to Huntington extending another 55 miles. It will interchange with the Coalfields Expressway in Welch near the Indian Ridge Industrial Park and the site of the new federal prison. The King Coal and Tolsia Highways represent the West Virginia corridors of Interstate 73/74.

[seicer]

No idea, but it's the same mantra that's been repeated for years. At least, since I met Mike Mitchem in 2004.

[74/171FAN]

Of course the famous economic impact study here http://www.bdtonline.com/local/local_story_195194458.html

[leifvanderwall]

The I-73/I-74 is headed towards Chicago ? There have been reports that I-73 was going to possibly Michigan or Ohio. If that's true, I-73 will be multiplexed with I-74 probably into Illinois. Imagine I-73 being mulitplexed with I-74 & I-465 in the Indy area.

[hbelkins]

The I-73/I-74 is headed towards Chicago ? There have been reports that I-73 was going to possibly Michigan or Ohio. If that's true, I-73 will be multiplexed with I-74 probably into Illinois. Imagine I-73 being mulitplexed with I-74 & I-465 in the Indy area.

Don't worry, it won't be. Ohio won't be building I-73 or extending I-74 eastward from Cincinnati anytime soon.

[CanesFan27]

King Coal Highway bridge in Bluefield is finished.  Or at least that's what the Executive Director of the King Coal Highway Association says.  The bridge extends the highway from US 460 to and over US 19.  I do not believe there is access from the King Coal to US 19 - so this may be a bridge to nowhere.  That is until the highway is extended to WV 123.

Story:
http://www.bdtonline.com/local/local_story_311184628.html

I have a map scan showing the project at the blog for those unfamiliar with the area:
http://surewhynotnow.blogspot.com/2009/11/king-coal-highway-bridge-in-bluefield.html

[rickmastfan67]

I do not believe there is access from the King Coal to US 19 - so this may be a bridge to nowhere.

You would be correct, it's a bridge to nowhere at this time.

[CanesFan27]

King Coal and Mercer County official apply for a $20 million piece of the $500 TIGER IV funding pie to build 2.3 miles of the King Coal/I-73 from the US 19 Bridge to Nowhere to WV 123.

http://bdtonline.com/editorials/x1225454537/TIGER-funds-Federal-grant-would-boost-King-Coal