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Coalfields Expressway

Started by hbelkins, December 19, 2014, 07:30:46 PM

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seicer

Capito says King Coal Highway, Coalfields Expressway are priorities for the state

The amount of money that will be available for work on King Coal Highway and the Coalfields Expressway has not yet been determined, but Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., said both are priorities for the state.

Capito said during a virtual press conference Thursday $3.5 billion is included in the infrastructure bill for state highways, spread out over five years, and she knows both projects are touted by Gov. Jim Justice.

"Those big projects are in his priority plan,"  she said, adding that the state already has a 10-year plan, a "pretty good road map"  of where those priorities are.


seicer

Preparations underway to begin Coalfields Expressway in McDowell

Preparations for construction of the (four-lane) Coalfields Expressway from Wyoming County to Welch are well under way.

Pack said DOH is "shooting for the spring"  of 2022 to begin moving dirt for the project.

"That bond sale that made this possible means the project is being fast-tracked,"  he said of the Parkways Authority bond sale that recently raised $423 million, $200 million of which was earmarked for the Coalfields Expressway extension to Welch. "We are finalizing the last right-ofway purchases that are necessary for the project."

Pack said a two-lane connector will be constructed just west of Welch Community Hospital on Rt. 7 and it will go up on a ridge and ride that ridge to another connector that comes out on Rt. 16 in Wyoming County.

That is several miles and a substantial project, he said. "There are no bridges. It's nothing but moving dirt around."

Pack said the DOH is also already working on the design of the King Coal Highway intersection with the Coalfields Expressway at the McDowell County/ Wyoming County line.

NE2

Ah, the portion past the prison where no three-level diamond has been graded.
pre-1945 Florida route log

I accept and respect your identity as long as it's not dumb shit like "identifying as a vaccinated attack helicopter".

Bitmapped

Quote from: seicer on August 11, 2021, 10:00:45 AM
Pack said a two-lane connector will be constructed just west of Welch Community Hospital on Rt. 7 and it will go up on a ridge and ride that ridge to another connector that comes out on Rt. 16 in Wyoming County.

That is several miles and a substantial project, he said. "There are no bridges. It's nothing but moving dirt around."

The McDowell/Wyoming county line is just north of the prison, not far from Welch. It sounds like this new section is pretty useless by itself - you might as well just stay on WV 16 in the valley rather than go up on top of the ridge to just come back down.

seicer

Interestingly, I had no idea the Parkways Authority was selling bonds for these projects.

Bitmapped

Quote from: seicer on August 12, 2021, 08:27:54 AM
Interestingly, I had no idea the Parkways Authority was selling bonds for these projects.

That's why tolls were increased on the Turnpike. There was weird cross-funding: general obligation bond dollars are paying for the Turnpike widening near Beckley, and Turnpike revenue bonds are paying for off-Turnpike projects in southern West Virginia.

Black-Man

Quote from: Bitmapped on August 12, 2021, 10:46:58 AM
That's why tolls were increased on the Turnpike. There was weird cross-funding: general obligation bond dollars are paying for the Turnpike widening near Beckley, and Turnpike revenue bonds are paying for off-Turnpike projects in southern West Virginia.

I talked to a guy who works for the Parkways Authority. Seems they 1) underestimated EZPass adoption and 2) even with (1) they overestimated the impact of the Turnpike revenue bonds and he sees a toll increase in the not-too-distant future using the "we're one of the cheapest toll roads in the region" line. I was asking about the Turnpike upgrading their archaic mainline toll barriers - something which was promised with the toll increase - and of course they have no funding for the modernization of even the Chelyan barrier (which is a nightmare during summer high-traffic weekends).

seicer

Justice determined to see King Coal Highway finished

"Gov. Jim Justice says he is determined to see three major highway projects in the state completed, including King Coal Highway.

[...]

All highways have sections complete with the King Coal Highway project in Mercer County that connects Interstate 77/Rt. 460 with Airport Road scheduled to be finished this year.

Once it is open to traffic, the new road will provide improved access to the Mercer County Airport. It will also provide a new route to the Hatfield-McCoy Trail for ATV tourists who travel to the region each week as they can exit I-77, go to Airport Road and then to Brushfork and Rt. 52.

The next section is going from Airport Road to Littlesburg Road and Montcalm, but no plans are yet in place on when that will be done.

[...]

The Coalfields Expressway will connect the Beckley area and I-77/I-64 with Rt. 460 in Buchanan County, Va., cutting across McDowell County.

Funding for a section from Mullens to Welch, which will cost $200 million, was obtained earlier this year through the sale of turnpike bonds

Joe Pack, state Division of Highways District 10 engineer/manager, recently said rights-of-way are being secured in the Welch area to make way for the highway."

Bitmapped

Quote from: Black-Man on September 08, 2021, 04:48:28 PM
Quote from: Bitmapped on August 12, 2021, 10:46:58 AM
That's why tolls were increased on the Turnpike. There was weird cross-funding: general obligation bond dollars are paying for the Turnpike widening near Beckley, and Turnpike revenue bonds are paying for off-Turnpike projects in southern West Virginia.

I talked to a guy who works for the Parkways Authority. Seems they 1) underestimated EZPass adoption and 2) even with (1) they overestimated the impact of the Turnpike revenue bonds and he sees a toll increase in the not-too-distant future using the "we're one of the cheapest toll roads in the region" line. I was asking about the Turnpike upgrading their archaic mainline toll barriers - something which was promised with the toll increase - and of course they have no funding for the modernization of even the Chelyan barrier (which is a nightmare during summer high-traffic weekends).

Parkways just needs to ditch the toll barriers and go full all-electronic tolling, but that's politically challenging because it would impact jobs.

If E-ZPass adoption is up that much, it would seem to point towards at least having full-time E-ZPass lanes all the time.

SP Cook

- Justice is term limited, so his views on the subject get less relevant each day, but if you look at a map, a complete KC/Tolsia takes something like 15 miles off the existing I-77/I-64, while a completed CFE US 121 might take 25 off the existing I-77/ Corridor Q US 460, which still is incomplete in Virginia.  Both pass through areas of tiny population.  I certainly see no desire in Virginia to build the rest of Q, let alone this project. 

- As I understand it, the turnpike bonds deal is a sort of loophole.  They use general money to work on the turnpike and this create the legal fiction that the turnpike "owes"  the state money, and thus can issue bonds to "pay back"  that debt, thus avoiding the legal requirement that the tolls be taken off a road that was upgraded with 90% federal money and which was paid off in 1985.

- The turnpike toll booths, southbound, are overwhelmed on the Sunday after Thanksgiving (which says a lot about a lot) but other than that, seem adequate.  You might wait 90 seconds.

hbelkins

Quote from: Bitmapped on September 08, 2021, 08:38:01 PM
Quote from: Black-Man on September 08, 2021, 04:48:28 PM
Quote from: Bitmapped on August 12, 2021, 10:46:58 AM
That's why tolls were increased on the Turnpike. There was weird cross-funding: general obligation bond dollars are paying for the Turnpike widening near Beckley, and Turnpike revenue bonds are paying for off-Turnpike projects in southern West Virginia.

I talked to a guy who works for the Parkways Authority. Seems they 1) underestimated EZPass adoption and 2) even with (1) they overestimated the impact of the Turnpike revenue bonds and he sees a toll increase in the not-too-distant future using the "we're one of the cheapest toll roads in the region" line. I was asking about the Turnpike upgrading their archaic mainline toll barriers - something which was promised with the toll increase - and of course they have no funding for the modernization of even the Chelyan barrier (which is a nightmare during summer high-traffic weekends).

Parkways just needs to ditch the toll barriers and go full all-electronic tolling, but that's politically challenging because it would impact jobs.

If E-ZPass adoption is up that much, it would seem to point towards at least having full-time E-ZPass lanes all the time.

The 5 mph speed limit on even the E-ZPass-only lanes is frustrating.

There certainly isn't a lot of room for widening at Chelyan (I always called that one Cabin Creek) but it would be nice if they would at least tear down a couple of booths, install jersey barriers between the lanes, and let E-ZPass traffic pass through at a speed higher than 5 mph. Even 35 or 40 would be a better option.

Quote from: SP Cook on September 09, 2021, 09:31:57 AM
- Justice is term limited, so his views on the subject get less relevant each day, but if you look at a map, a complete KC/Tolsia takes something like 15 miles off the existing I-77/I-64, while a completed CFE US 121 might take 25 off the existing I-77/ Corridor Q US 460, which still is incomplete in Virginia.  Both pass through areas of tiny population.  I certainly see no desire in Virginia to build the rest of Q, let alone this project.

Think Justice might be like Arch Moore and sit out a term, and then try to come back? Or is he done with politics, having dealt with the hassles over where he sleeps at night and stuff like that?

Regarding Virginia, I think they'll basically be forced to finish US 460 to Grundy. Kentucky will have its section of Q finished in a couple of years, and the section beyond the current end of the four-lane at Breaks is just waiting for surface. That traffic will have to be shunted over to Grundy somehow, and SR 609 between Breaks and existing 460 isn't designed to handle a large volume of traffic, nor bigger vehicles.

I'm still not sure where the future route will tie in to the existing four-lane near Grundy.


Government would be tolerable if not for politicians and bureaucrats.

Bitmapped

Quote from: hbelkins on September 09, 2021, 11:59:16 AM
Think Justice might be like Arch Moore and sit out a term, and then try to come back? Or is he done with politics, having dealt with the hassles over where he sleeps at night and stuff like that?

No. Justice is done. Nobody in either party likes him much at this point and there are a number of ambitious Republicans who want their shot at the office. It's not like during Arch Moore's era when Moore was pretty much it for the WVGOP bench.

SP Cook

I would agree with that, and add that Justice is currently 70.  Term limited in 24, he would be 77 in 28, and is not in the best of health. 

The other thing I would add, and mods I mean this in the context of civics, and not politics, is to look at the Census numbers.   The population loss sketches out to about five to six delegates (out of 100) and at least 2 or perhaps 4 state senators (out of 34) being reapportioned from that region to places like the eastern panhandle, and Putnam and Monongalia counties, which will, IMHO, greatly change the transportation priorities for a long time to come. 

hbelkins

Found my own answer, quite accidentally, to the question about connecting future US 460 to the existing route.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHE92-YmC2U

Looks like existing 460 will be widened for a short distance north of Grundy, and then use a new alignment to cross the river and climb the mountain.


Government would be tolerable if not for politicians and bureaucrats.

GCrites

Quote from: SP Cook on September 09, 2021, 09:31:57 AM


- The turnpike toll booths, southbound, are overwhelmed on the Sunday after Thanksgiving (which says a lot about a lot)

The shift of native West Virginian migration patterns from Columbus, Cleveland and Pittsburgh to North Carolina (especially Charlotte) instead over the past 30+ years.

hbelkins

Quote from: GCrites80s on September 09, 2021, 08:46:25 PM
Quote from: SP Cook on September 09, 2021, 09:31:57 AM


- The turnpike toll booths, southbound, are overwhelmed on the Sunday after Thanksgiving (which says a lot about a lot)

The shift of native West Virginian migration patterns from Columbus, Cleveland and Pittsburgh to North Carolina (especially Charlotte) instead over the past 30+ years.


Not just West Virginia, but those areas of the Rust Belt that I-77 serves where Buckeyes have moved south but return back north for holidays.

Kind of in reverse of what Kentucky does, where people moved north but come back south for special occasions.


Government would be tolerable if not for politicians and bureaucrats.

seicer

During random summer days (weekdays even), I had to sit and wait at the southernmost toll plaza on the Turnpike for at least 20 minutes or more just to clear the EZ-Pass only lanes (which were backed up because you have to go 5 MPH through it).

GCrites

Quote from: hbelkins on September 09, 2021, 09:05:36 PM
Quote from: GCrites80s on September 09, 2021, 08:46:25 PM
Quote from: SP Cook on September 09, 2021, 09:31:57 AM


- The turnpike toll booths, southbound, are overwhelmed on the Sunday after Thanksgiving (which says a lot about a lot)

The shift of native West Virginian migration patterns from Columbus, Cleveland and Pittsburgh to North Carolina (especially Charlotte) instead over the past 30+ years.


Not just West Virginia, but those areas of the Rust Belt that I-77 serves where Buckeyes have moved south but return back north for holidays.

Kind of in reverse of what Kentucky does, where people moved north but come back south for special occasions.

The Research Triangle and NC schoolteaching jobs are big magnets for Rustbelters.

seicer

Three Coalfields Expressway projects scheduled for construction

Construction will get underway on three Coalfields Expressway projects this year.

A five-mile segment from Welch to W.Va. 16, another five-mile stretch from Mullens to Twin Falls Resort State Park, as well as a three-mile link from Twin Falls toward Pineville are included in the state's 2022 road projects.

[...]

Right-of-way is currently being obtained for the Welch to W.Va. 16 segment as well as the Mullens to Twin Falls Resort State Park stretch, according to officials.

[...]

Next year, the environmental impact study will be completed on the seven-mile link from W.Va. 16 to Pineville, with construction scheduled to begin in 2026.

--

After completion after 2026, there will be 20 miles of new Coalfields Expressway finished from Mullens to Welch.

The Ghostbuster

Given that the project is proceeding at a snail's pace, I didn't expect to see any more segments to be built for decades. I still don't see it making it to US 23 in my lifetime.

VTGoose

#170
Quote from: The Ghostbuster on August 02, 2022, 06:21:28 PM
I'm disappointed the Parsons-to-Davis will have to wait until 2025 for final design to begin, and 2031 before construction begins. I know money isn't unlimited, but it would be nice if Corridor H could have been completed sooner (dito for the Coalfields Expressway and the King Coal Highway).

Groundbreaking was held on Monday for a portion of the Coalfields Expressway to connect to Welch. See https://www.wvva.com/2022/08/01/welch-coalfield-expressway-project-set-2026-completion/
"Get in the fast lane, grandma!  The bingo game is ready to roll!"

74/171FAN

I split this off from the Corridor H thread before that possibly became a Coalfields Expressway Thread.  -Mark
I am now a PennDOT employee.  My opinions/views do not necessarily reflect the opinions/views of PennDOT.

sbeaver44

Quote from: VTGoose on August 03, 2022, 10:47:29 AM
Quote from: The Ghostbuster on August 02, 2022, 06:21:28 PM
I'm disappointed the Parsons-to-Davis will have to wait until 2025 for final design to begin, and 2031 before construction begins. I know money isn't unlimited, but it would be nice if Corridor H could have been completed sooner (dito for the Coalfields Expressway and the King Coal Highway).

Groundbreaking was held on Monday for a portion of the Coalfields Expressway to connect to Welch. See https://www.wvva.com/2022/08/01/welch-coalfield-expressway-project-set-2026-completion/
I've been quite interested in this particular site in Welch for a while, because it is hard to find information on.  So they did the grading for the interchange a loooong time ago, but I have trouble visualizing how the landscape behind FCI McDowell translates to an interchange.  I thought that this area was to be where the King Coal would have interchanged with the Coalfields.  Will they need to do any re-grading?  Was the prison always going to be there, or did they use some of the land once it was clear the highway project was stalled?

I visited Welch and drove WV 121 last summer, which was a pretty cool road.  The section of WV 16 between Mullens and Welch took quite a bit of time to drive vs the distance gained, but it wasn't necessarily unpleasant.  Downtown Welch is interesting, I parked in the municipal parking garage, and walked around a little to see the historic downtown.

I also then drove over to Grundy via WV/VA 83, and then found my way back to what appears to be a planned industrial park west of Grundy.  It was extremely foggy and driving around the empty street grid was kind of Centralia-esque.  Then I drove over to VA 80 so I could take the new Corr Q segments to Pikeville.  Is the Grundy area part of the Coalfields?  If I recall it's Beckley to Pound?  Where will it cross Corridor Q?

It would be certainly nice to be able to go Beckley to Pikeville on a 4-lane highway, and I certainly hope there can be some opportunities for the people who live in that region.

hbelkins

My understanding is that Q (460) will join the Coalfields (121) for a short concurrency heading generally northeast before Q splits off to join the four-lane at Grundy.

Where is this industrial park? I need to check it out sometime.

There is a four-lane pretty much all the way from Beckley to Pikeville, but you have to go through Princeton, Tazewell, and Richlands, and Grundy on 460, so it's not direct.


Government would be tolerable if not for politicians and bureaucrats.

Mapmikey

Quote from: sbeaver44 on August 09, 2022, 08:04:23 PM

I've been quite interested in this particular site in Welch for a while, because it is hard to find information on.  So they did the grading for the interchange a loooong time ago, but I have trouble visualizing how the landscape behind FCI McDowell translates to an interchange.  I thought that this area was to be where the King Coal would have interchanged with the Coalfields.  Will they need to do any re-grading?  Was the prison always going to be there, or did they use some of the land once it was clear the highway project was stalled?


Per the map here - https://gis.transportation.wv.gov/ftp/GeneralHighwayMap/genhwy.pdf - the interchange is a bit north of where the defined roadway stops.

If you check out the 1996 and 2003 historicaerials you can tell they did clear some area north of the defined roadway.  This area is north of the prison in terms of the King Coal running E-W through here.  That area is still cleared, though there may now be a small body of water there.



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