Corridor H

[hbelkins]

Pfft.  "Federal micromanaging" as they just follow NEPA.  Cry me a river.

NEPA is the law and it needs to be followed.  The NEPA process is why Corridor H eastbound diverges sharply from US-33 at Elkins and heads to the north and east toward Parsons and then splits the difference between Thomas and Davis (east of Thomas and Davis, the road is open to Wardensville in Hardy County (WVDOT plans to have the section up to the Virginia/West Virginia under contract in 2024)). The original early Corridor H plans had it running roughly along US-33 all the way from Elkins to Harrisonburg, Virginia,. a distance of about 120 miles along present-day US-33. Hence the "racetrack" section of US-33 east of Elkins - at one time, that would have been Corridor H.

There was litigation that was settled in 2000 in the federal courts that avoided environmentally sensitive areas including Seneca Rocks, Corrick's Ford Battlefield and habitat of the West Virginia Northern Flying Squirrel (that is what WVDOT calls this animal in environmental documents).

An EIS and SDEIS have been completed for Corridor H between Parsons and Thomas/Davis.  IMO the people that do not like this route should not be granted another bite of the apple to further delay the project.

I was referring to the Transportation Secretary whining about FHWA's ongoing concerns.  FHWA is following NEPA, which we both agree should be followed.

Jimmy Wriston doesn't appear to be the typical transportation agency leader. I could very well be wrong, but he doesn't act like the normal political appointee that leads most state DOTs. He came up through the ranks at WVDOH and just about every time I've seen photos of him, he's dressed more like an engineer in the field than a bureaucrat.

[machpost]

They have theirs.  They don't care about other people.

This is the key takeaway here. Corridor H is almost singlehandedly responsible for the absolute explosion in tourism around Davis and Thomas, but now that these wealthy city dwellers have safe, convenient access to the area from DC and have set up camp in their little corner of paradise, well, screw everybody else! Unlike the locals, they have the money and the political skills to really turn back the progress that has been made in getting this thing completed.

[1995hoo]

Oddly, this morning Google Maps is showing Corridor H as complete through that area:

https://www.google.com/maps/@39.120947,-79.5573729,11.83z

[hbelkins]

Oddly, this morning Google Maps is showing Corridor H as complete through that area:

https://www.google.com/maps/@39.120947,-79.5573729,11.83z

Interesting. So it would appear that US 48 and US 219 will have a longer concurrency with WV 72, running from north of Parsons and then turning left at the traffic light to follow the existing concurrency, until the section between Parsons and Thomas/Davis is done.

[bluecountry]

They have theirs.  They don't care about other people.

This is the key takeaway here. Corridor H is almost singlehandedly responsible for the absolute explosion in tourism around Davis and Thomas, but now that these wealthy city dwellers have safe, convenient access to the area from DC and have set up camp in their little corner of paradise, well, screw everybody else! Unlike the locals, they have the money and the political skills to really turn back the progress that has been made in getting this thing completed.

I think the opponents are right and reasonable in asking for the Davis segment to be shifted north, if the choice is build where they want now or no build, I say no build.
Do not destroy Blackwater, if you want it so bad, build north. 

[seicer]

The preferred alternative goes ... north of Davis and Thomas. And it's north of Blackwater Falls and other sensitive sites. The alignment cuts across the N. Fork Blackwater River near the remains of old coal tipples and coke ovens and traverses on former strip mine land - it's not virgin territory.

So I can't report the Corridor H alignment on Google Maps - how can that be removed?

[1995hoo]

The preferred alternative goes ... north of Davis and Thomas. And it's north of Blackwater Falls and other sensitive sites. The alignment cuts across the N. Fork Blackwater River near the remains of old coal tipples and coke ovens and traverses on former strip mine land - it's not virgin territory.

So I can't report the Corridor H alignment on Google Maps - how can that be removed?

I clicked on all those segments yesterday to report them for removal on the basis that the road does not exist. We'll see what happens. I did ask for directions from one end of the segment to the other just to see how long it would be, but it used the current road instead.

Last night I looked at that area using Apple Maps. It correctly doesn't show the proposed/under construction segment, but the satellite view is more up-to-date than Google's. That extremely high-level bridge near Moore is visible (well, the piers are visible) in Apple Maps but not in Google Maps, for example.

[machpost]

The preferred alternative goes ... north of Davis and Thomas. And it's north of Blackwater Falls and other sensitive sites. The alignment cuts across the N. Fork Blackwater River near the remains of old coal tipples and coke ovens and traverses on former strip mine land - it's not virgin territory.

So I can't report the Corridor H alignment on Google Maps - how can that be removed?

I've heard that the northern route won't work because it could impact the municipal water supply for Thomas. And if WVDOH is to be believed, the preferred alignment won't even affect the viewsheds that some people are concerned about disrupting.

[Dirt Roads]

The preferred alternative goes ... north of Davis and Thomas. And it's north of Blackwater Falls and other sensitive sites. The alignment cuts across the N. Fork Blackwater River near the remains of old coal tipples and coke ovens and traverses on former strip mine land - it's not virgin territory.

So I can't report the Corridor H alignment on Google Maps - how can that be removed?

I've heard that the northern route won't work because it could impact the municipal water supply for Thomas. And if WVDOH is to be believed, the preferred alignment won't even affect the viewsheds that some people are concerned about disrupting.

Indeed, as the closest that the proposed route of Corridor H ever gets to the Blackwater River is a short section near Hendricks, and that segment is located on the north side of the Backbone Mountain ridgeback, whereas the Blackwater River is located on the south side.  But I suspect that the main issue for environmentalists is that the proposed corridor crosses the North Fork of the Blackwater River, which is considered by some as a continuation of the Blackwater Canyon (and also part of the mysterious Blackwater River Industrial Historic District). 

Pouring over the geography of the area, you will find that the terrain east of the confluence of the North Fork and the Blackwater is less entrenched all the way up to the falls, as compared to the North Fork itself. 

Like many scenic rivers in West Virginia, the North Fork of the Blackwater (as well as the portion of the Blackwater west of the confluence) was a major coal mining district that included the West Virginia Central and Pittsburg (sic) Railway (later part of the Western Maryland).  Beneath the old growth trees in the Blackwater Canyon is a myriad of long-abandoned old-timey coal facilities.  Like many old buildings, they are considered eligible for historic preservation and protected under Federal law.  But Corridor H is proposed to bridge over all of this stuff.

I need to stay out of the politics of all of this.  But for the record, I love all of the old railroad and coal mine structures.  And I also love all of the bridges over top of them.

[hbelkins]

They've beaten this horse to death. The environmental issues have been hashed and re-hashed and re-re-hashed.

There is absolutely nothing in Thomas or Davis worth stopping for. I think I stopped to take a leak in Davis once, and if I bought anything, it was just a pop and/or a snack. If I'm driving Corridor H straight through, I might have stopped at the Sheetz in downtown Parsons, but it's closed now. Otherwise, there's nothing between Buckhannon and Moorefield. All the services in Elkins are on the south side of town.

Those idiots -- yes, they're idiots -- who are fighting this road are cutting off their noses to spite their faces. They want to eliminate something that would make it easier for people to access their businesses.

[Rothman]

Thomas is still a cute little tourist town and Davis is the gateway to the State Park.  Saying that there's nothing to stop for there is way off mark.

[Dirt Roads]

There is absolutely nothing in Thomas or Davis worth stopping for.

I know that you added this in the midst of a rant, but man this one hurts.  I love all of these little old coal mining towns all over including Southwestern Pennsylvania, Western Maryland, Southwest Virginia and (yup) Eastern Kentucky.  They don't look pretty, and the folks in Eastern Kentucky are very leery of outsiders (even those of us with a strong Appalachian dialect), but every business that remains open has got an interesting history (and fun stories to tell).

Thomas is still a cute little tourist town and Davis is the gateway to the State Park.  Saying that there's nothing to stop for there is way off mark.

On the other hand, there's a lot of old rambleshacks in both towns (which is probably what hbelkins was referring to.  It's been about 10 years ago or so, but I stayed at a friend's house in Davis and it was one of the "fancy" ones.  Two stories, round light switches and ceramic screw-in light fixtures, all decked out with exposed plumbing upstairs.  (Kind of like most of the student apartments near WVU back when I was in college somewhere else).  It's charming to a [wannabee] country-boy like me.

[Bitmapped]

There is absolutely nothing in Thomas or Davis worth stopping for. I think I stopped to take a leak in Davis once, and if I bought anything, it was just a pop and/or a snack. If I'm driving Corridor H straight through, I might have stopped at the Sheetz in downtown Parsons, but it's closed now. Otherwise, there's nothing between Buckhannon and Moorefield. All the services in Elkins are on the south side of town.

Those idiots -- yes, they're idiots -- who are fighting this road are cutting off their noses to spite their faces. They want to eliminate something that would make it easier for people to access their businesses.

Just because you only stop at gas stations doesn't mean that others don't see value in local restaurants and shops, which Davis and Thomas have and which already draw significant crowds.

[1995hoo]

Has anyone been to the brewpub in Thomas? I've passed it on the road but have never had time to stop, so I'm curious whether it's any good. If it is, then I would see that as something worth stopping for in that town.

[hbelkins]

There is absolutely nothing in Thomas or Davis worth stopping for.

I know that you added this in the midst of a rant, but man this one hurts.  I love all of these little old coal mining towns all over including Southwestern Pennsylvania, Western Maryland, Southwest Virginia and (yup) Eastern Kentucky.  They don't look pretty, and the folks in Eastern Kentucky are very leery of outsiders (even those of us with a strong Appalachian dialect), but every business that remains open has got an interesting history (and fun stories to tell).

I like all those little towns as well. The drive from Welch to Bluefield on US 52 is interesting because of all the little coal camps the road passes through. But the reality is that there's little there from an economic generation standpoint.

[Dirt Roads]

There is absolutely nothing in Thomas or Davis worth stopping for.

I know that you added this in the midst of a rant, but man this one hurts.  I love all of these little old coal mining towns all over including Southwestern Pennsylvania, Western Maryland, Southwest Virginia and (yup) Eastern Kentucky.  They don't look pretty, and the folks in Eastern Kentucky are very leery of outsiders (even those of us with a strong Appalachian dialect), but every business that remains open has got an interesting history (and fun stories to tell).

I like all those little towns as well. The drive from Welch to Bluefield on US 52 is interesting because of all the little coal camps the road passes through. But the reality is that there's little there from an economic generation standpoint.

Indeed.  You were trying to hammer down a point and you cut a bit of yourself down in the process.  Not sure that everybody watching took notice.  One of the charms of West Virginia is the willingness to tackle nearly-impossible highway projects that they know they can't really afford, just to get a big payoff 50 years down the road.  And improve the beauty of the State in the process.  (Not all of those projects hit paydirt, but many have).

[seicer]

Come on HB. Nothing to stop in Thomas or Davis? I know there are next to no chains (thankfully) in that area, but both towns are in a vacation mecca. It's next to Blackwater Falls State Park, Dolly Sods Wilderness, Canaan Valley National Wildlife Refuge, and the Monongahela National Forest - among many smaller private preserves by the Nature Conservancy and other entities. I've been going up there for 15+ years, and it's gone from being a fairly quiet and remote outpost of the state - more for locals, to one that's been noticed nationwide. Dolly Sods had a literal traffic jam last year, where it was gridlocked for 10 miles because of too much traffic and not enough control or movement.

Using your analogy, we'd be excluding most of Appalachia because we know there isn't much of anything in southwest West Virginia or eastern Kentucky. Parks are far and few between, the scenery isn't exceptional, the coal mining jobs (which the area was exclusively supported on) is dwindling, and the poverty is astounding. A new road won't fix that down there.

[froggie]

^ On top of that, the Canaan Valley (and all its resorts) is literally right up the hill from Davis.

[seicer]

Corridor H Parsons To Davis Comment Period Is Extended

The West Virginia Division of Highways and the Federal Highway Administration have extended the comment period for the Parsons-to-Davis section of Corridor H to Jan. 6, 2023.

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Comment at https://transportation.wv.gov/highways/engineering/comment/CorridorHParsonsToDavis/Pages/default.aspx

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Preferred alternative roll plot: https://transportation.wv.gov/highways/major-projects/Corridor-H/route/Documents/Parson%20to%20Davis/2022-09-07-Corridor-H-Mainline-Roll-Plot-500.pdf

This shows a trumpet interchange for WV 32/US 219 between Davis and Thomas, a bridge over the N. Fork Blackwater River by the old coke ovens near Coketon and Thomas, a bridge over Long Run, an interchange for US 219 at Mackeyville, and a truck escape ramp. It does not seem like there will be any intersections on this segment. This map also depicts the WV 32 bypass of Thomas.

I think the problem with going north of Thomas is the impact on the city of Thomas' reservoir, so more likely than not, you would need to loop further to the northerly WV 32/US 219 intersection. The bonus with a rerouting to the north of Thomas is the elimination of the WV 32 bypass of Thomas - which seems to be overkill even in the busiest of seasons. The money on the bypass could be better spent upgrading pedestrian infrastructure in Thomas and Davis - with proper sidewalks, ADA ramps, and curbing.

Edit: Looks like the 2007 SFEIS shows all of the proposed alignments: https://transportation.wv.gov/highways/major-projects/Corridor-H/route/Documents/Parson%20to%20Davis/Parsons-to-Davis_Complete-Handout.pdf

[Bitmapped]

This shows a trumpet interchange for WV 32/US 219 between Davis and Thomas, a bridge over the N. Fork Blackwater River by the old coke ovens near Coketon and Thomas, a bridge over Long Run, an interchange for US 219 at Mackeyville, and a truck escape ramp. It does not seem like there will be any intersections on this segment. This map also depicts the WV 32 bypass of Thomas.

I believe there will be an at-grade intersection with existing US 219 near Tucker County High School. I think this is a mistake personally as you're going to be putting a bunch of school busses through this intersection, which will probably drive it to become signalized. Build at least a RIRO like is proposed at Mackeyville.

It looks like the existing route of US 219 will remain its own independent road up the mountain, albeit with some relocations in places to move it out of the footprint of new Corridor H constructions.

I think the trumpet dumping out on present WV 93 by Davis is an attempt to appease people complaining about the new highway dividing Thomas and Davis. The plans show Corridor H being buried in a cut at WV 32. I'm not a fan of making traffic use side access roads to get to the highway like is proposed here and happens at Moorefield. Use a trumpet on the mainline and have it end on WV 32, or if you're going to keep the trumpet along WV 93, connect the street grid to provide better connectivity from the interchange to downtown Davis.

The Thomas bypass was originally intended to get trucks out of town but it seems to have taken on a life of its own. I do agree that relocating mainline Corridor H north of Thomas would eliminate the need for the Thomas bypass and wrote as much in the comments I submitted on this project.

[TheOneKEA]

I think the trumpet dumping out on present WV 93 by Davis is an attempt to appease people complaining about the new highway dividing Thomas and Davis. The plans show Corridor H being buried in a cut at WV 32. I'm not a fan of making traffic use side access roads to get to the highway like is proposed here and happens at Moorefield. Use a trumpet on the mainline and have it end on WV 32, or if you're going to keep the trumpet along WV 93, connect the street grid to provide better connectivity from the interchange to downtown Davis.

Agreed. A standard diamond interchange between US 48 and WV 32 makes much more sense and would not require the circuitous routing shown on the plans. If there are (potentially unfounded) concerns that the resulting freeway canyon will cut off commerce between the towns, there are lots of ways that the bridge carrying WV 32 could be streetscaped to provide more than enough room for pedestrian and bicycle traffic. A trumpet between US 48 and WV 32 would also be okay IMO, as long as the WV 32 overpass was designed to promote, or at least make room for, non-car traffic along that road between the two towns.

I'll be interested to see if any of the land surrounding the planned intersection between the trumpet ramps and WV 93 will be zoned commercial or not; I could see the existing Marathon station at the corner of WV 32 and Blackwater Falls Road closing down and moving to a new location closer to US 48.

[seicer]

The concerns about the N. Fork Blackwater River canyon are interesting... because these alternatives avoid the canyon entirely. The roadway crosses through what was the Davis Coal & Coke property, part of which is on the National Register of Historic Places. The bridge would not disturb any former industrial sites, but it would potentially cut through the remains of the coke ovens, most of which are not that visible or collapsed.

More concerning is the distance from the bridge to natural sites - Albert Falls would be less than a half mile away, and Douglas Falls is about a mile away. There would be visual intrusions from Albert Falls and possibly noise intrusions down to Douglas Falls. I would say runoff would be a concern (such as salt). Still, regardless, the N. Fork Blackwater River is already sullied with extensive acid mine drainage (despite attempts at correcting it) and runoff from former strip mine sites (which have more recently been reclaimed, for the most part). There isn't as much of a concern about impacting any natural areas if Corridor H is run to the north of town and it avoids former mining sites.

[rte66man]

from the Engineering News-Record
https://www.enr.com/articles/56015-west-virginia-wild-crews-carve-out-corridor-h-through-the-appalachian-mountains?oly_enc_id=8129J3592389J4M

West Virginia Wild: Crews Carve Out Corridor H Through the Appalachian Mountains

The photos are spectacular.

[seicer]

Thanks for that. Beautiful aerial photography along with what is some great descriptors giving a fresh look into this project.

[seicer]

This may be a rarity, but Bing Maps has updated aerials on the new Corridor H segment being built from Karens to Parsons: https://www.bing.com/maps?cp=39.032047%7E-79.809902&lvl=14.3&style=a

On a related note, the abutments on the bridge over Leading Creek have been repaired, and Corridor H is once again open from Elkins to Karens. And on another note, two new traffic lights are being installed just east of Buckhannon.