Corridor H

[CVski]

We drove home yesterday afternoon on the newest 3.0 mile segment from the Grant/Tucker County line to the Bismarck interchange that opened last November.  Got to see the much anticipated view of Mt. Storm dam from the downstream perspective as you cross the new Stony River bridge.  But if you blink you may miss it. 

Altogether, the completed eastern portion of Corridor H now measures 51 miles of 4-lane divided highway from the new entry point to the off ramp approaching Wardensville.  It took us just 43 minutes.  Nice. 

As far as that last remaining ~10 mile stretch of Corridor H within Tucker County; depending on the day or time, you can expect to see either a fair amount of heavy earthmoving equipment at work, or else nothing at all.  They were still blasting and hauling boulders in one area just three or four weeks ago.  At the current rate of progress, I don't really see how they can expect to be open to Davis by the end of calendar year 2015, as is still projected by WVDOT at http://www.wvcorridorh.com/route/map4.html 

We've been driving east-west on WV55 and the new portions of US48 and observing the construction progress on this project for all 15 years of it now, and we haven't seen any previous segment get from basic earth and rock removal to ribbon cutting in anything less than 18 months.  So I'll be pleasantly surprised to be all the way thru to Davis on the completed highway too much before the first snow flurries arrive in the fall of 2016. 

And since the final piece of WV 93 thru Tucker that is still under some form of Corridor H construction was always a fairly flat, straight stretch of highland plateau to begin with, what we mostly look forward to is gaining back 20 or more mph from the dreadfully slow 45 mph pace now being endured as you alternate for practically all of that 10 miles between the old two lanes of 93 and the new and improved two lanes of Corridor H. 

Anyway, we still managed to set a new trip record from Timberline Rd in Canaan Valley to Exit 44 of I-66 at Gainesville, in only 2 hrs and 15 minutes. 

   

[cpzilliacus]

TINewsDaily.com: New Corridor H project to be put out to bid soon

With the recent completion of a 4.4-mile section of the Appalachian Corridor H, West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin announced last week that construction on another project --  a 7.7-mile stretch of Corridor H -- would be put out for bid soon.

The new portion of the four-lane highway will run from Kerens, West Virginia, half way to Parsons.

"Completing Corridor H has been a work in progress for a number of years, and I'm pleased we are able to announce work on an additional stretch of roadway to bring this project one-step closer to completion,"  Tomblin said. "These continued efforts are made possible through public-private partnerships that not only save taxpayers' dollars, but help to speed up construction and spur economic growth. By investing in our infrastructure, we have the potential to impact both our state and local economies. I look forward to announcing the bidding process for this new stretch of road in a few weeks."  

[bugo]

The EPA exists to provide cover for politicians to acomplish via regulatation things that they cannot come right out and say.  A politican that actually came out and said "I have mine and I really don't care about everybody else." would lose 95-5.  But you can, via environmental regulation, acomplish that selfish and self-centered goal. 

"I have mine and I really don't care about everybody else." is one of the Republic Party's main talking points, along with "if we let the biscuits get married civilization will collapse and Christianity will be made illegal", plus "we get to tell you what you can do with your own bodies and in your own bedrooms."

[bugo]

Really, you can be 2 miles from Corridor H and be unaware of its existance.  Its environmental impact (I use the common term the EPA uses, of course, nothing man does can have any real environmental impact, as man is a part of the environment) is really so near zero as to be not worth considering.

The state who allow(s?ed?) mountaintop removal has no room to talk. US 48 (I refuse to call it "Corridor H" because it sounds like a hallway in a psych ward) is barely noticeable and the environmental impacts are very low. I've never been in that part of West Virginia, but from what I've seen the terrain is similar to the Ozarks (yes, I know they were formed differently) and I-49 (nee I-540) hasn't changed the landscape or ruined the lifestyle of anybody down in the valleys except for a few high bridges that are quite scenic in my opinion. I-49 through the Ouachita Mountains will be going through folded mountains that are more rugged than the eroded plateau that formed the Ozarks.

[bugo]

A) Marijuana is wonderful.
B) Corridor H tears apart hillsides and doesn't get nearly enough traffic to justify itself as a four-lane expressway.
C) WV's tendency to build expressways instead of freeways is annoying at best.
D) No, seriously, have you smoked up yet?

I wonder if CPZ and HBE have smelled the good stuff or just old Mexican dirtweed. They smell COMPLETELY different (not that I would know by experience, hehehe). Even different strains of high quality cannabis flowers can smell completely different. Some of it has a skunky odor. You might have smelled some shitty weed because good weed has a wonderful odor.

[bugo]

Kentucky does pretty much the same thing as West Virginia when it comes to building roads through the mountains. You ought to check out the two newest sections of US 119 for evidence.

We'll find out how Arkansas does it when I-49 between Ft Smith and about DeQueen is built. Most of their new highway construction has been on the southeastern half of the state, which is largely flat (the new interstates they have recently built, I-530/AR 530 (Future I-530), I-555, AR 440 (Future I-440) US 67 (Future I-30) and Future I-69 all go through flat areas.) My hypothesis is that AHTD builds roads where they can build them the cheapest. I-49 north of Fort Smith and south of Texarkana were the easiest parts of 49 to build, so of course we got them first. I-49 north of Alma runs along ridges and doesn't have a lot of steep mountains to climb, and many of the valleys are simply bridged. The one big "mountain" on the route is tunneled. I would be willing to bet that not one person on this forum will live to see the day that I-49 is completed from the Louisiana line to the Missouri line.

[cpzilliacus]

I wonder if CPZ and HBE have smelled the good stuff or just old Mexican dirtweed. They smell COMPLETELY different (not that I would know by experience, hehehe). Even different strains of high quality cannabis flowers can smell completely different. Some of it has a skunky odor. You might have smelled some shitty weed because good weed has a wonderful odor.

I know what marihuana smells like, but no idea how to distinguish good stuff from dirtweed, as I have not smoked any of it (what I have smelled was remarkably nasty, but I did not know its origin).

[cpzilliacus]

Really, you can be 2 miles from Corridor H and be unaware of its existance.  Its environmental impact (I use the common term the EPA uses, of course, nothing man does can have any real environmental impact, as man is a part of the environment) is really so near zero as to be not worth considering.

The state who allow(s?ed?) mountaintop removal has no room to talk. US 48 (I refuse to call it "Corridor H" because it sounds like a hallway in a psych ward) is barely noticeable and the environmental impacts are very low.

The western part of Corridor H (between Weston and Kerens) is not currently signed as U.S. 48 (in spite of what Google Maps says).  It is either U.S. 33, U.S. 119, U.S. 219, U.S. 250, W.Va. 92 or some combination thereof.

I've never been in that part of West Virginia, but from what I've seen the terrain is similar to the Ozarks (yes, I know they were formed differently) and I-49 (nee I-540) hasn't changed the landscape or ruined the lifestyle of anybody down in the valleys except for a few high bridges that are quite scenic in my opinion. I-49 through the Ouachita Mountains will be going through folded mountains that are more rugged than the eroded plateau that formed the Ozarks.

I have not been in Arkansas, so I will not make any comments about the environmental or socioeconomic impacts of large highway projects there.

But I know this part of West Virginia pretty well.

The Ozarks are not as high as the Alleghenies, which the U.S. 48 part of Corridor H now reaches. 

At the Eastern Continental Divide (Tucker County/Grant County border), the road tops out at well over 3,300 feet (the nearby Maryland high point on the ridgetop of Backbone Mountain is about 3,380 feet AMSL, the West Virginia high point is some distance south, on Spruce Knob at better than 4,800 AMSL), all of which are significantly higher than the high point of Arkansas.   

[hbelkins]

West Virginia has taken pains to make the easternmost portion of Corridor H as much of a scenic highway as possible, including decorative bridge railings, Core-Ten guardrail, brown signposts and a few other features.

[cpzilliacus]

West Virginia has taken pains to make the easternmost portion of Corridor H as much of a scenic highway as possible, including decorative bridge railings, Core-Ten guardrail, brown signposts and a few other features.

Agreed.

A lot of money was spent designing and building stormwater management/detention basins along the road.

The scenic view areas (one on each side of Moorefield, plus one that is spectacular on the eastbound side between Bismarck/Mount Storm (W.Va. 42 and W.Va. 93) and Scherr, where the highway descends the Allegheny Front range) are a nice added touch. 

[bugo]

At the Eastern Continental Divide (Tucker County/Grant County border), the road tops out at well over 3,300 feet (the nearby Maryland high point on the ridgetop of Backbone Mountain is about 3,380 feet AMSL, the West Virginia high point is some distance south, on Spruce Knob at better than 4,800 AMSL), all of which are significantly higher than the high point of Arkansas.   

The distance above sea level is irrelevant. The distance between the mountain peaks and the valleys below is what is important if you're comparing the two.

[cpzilliacus]

The distance above sea level is irrelevant. The distance between the mountain peaks and the valleys below is what is important if you're comparing the two.

That is pretty significant as well.

What's built now rises from an elevation of around 1,000 feet near the Cacapon River at Wardensville up to about 3,400 feet near the crest of the Eastern Continental Divide.  By East Coast standards, that is a lot of elevation gain.

[bugo]

The distance above sea level is irrelevant. The distance between the mountain peaks and the valleys below is what is important if you're comparing the two.

That is pretty significant as well.

What's built now rises from an elevation of around 1,000 feet near the Cacapon River at Wardensville up to about 3,400 feet near the crest of the Eastern Continental Divide.  By East Coast standards, that is a lot of elevation gain.

That is indeed more of a vertical distance than the highest point in the Ozarks (Turner Ward Knob). The vertical distances in the Ouachitas are greater than the distances in the Ozarks, and the tallest mountains are taller than the mountains in the Ozarks.

Off topic, but the Ozark Mountains are an eroded plateau, while the Ouachita Mountains are folded mountains. The Ozarks were once flat until they were slowly eroded into what they are today, while the Ouachitas were created when the South American plate crashed into the North American plate and the area that was once a shallow sea was pushed upward. The Ouachitas were once as tall as the Rockies but they have eroded to what they are now.

[cpzilliacus]

The Inter-Mountain.com: Rotary hears Corridor H news

Robbie Morris, president of the Robert C. Byrd Corridor H Authority, gave the Elkins Rotary Club an update on the status of Corridor H construction during the club's Monday meeting.

Morris began by giving a factual overview of the Corridor, saying slightly more than three quarters of the roadway within West Virginia either is completed or currently under construction.

"Corridor H is 130 miles long going from Weston, I-79, eventually to Strasburg, Front Royal and the I-81/I-66 interchange in Virginia," Morris said. "With the 4.4 miles just recently opened around Mt. Storm, 76 percent of the road in West Virginia is now complete, with the recent announcement of another 7.5 mile stretch that will go under construction later on this year.

"By the time the current section from Davis to right around Mt. Storm is completed later on this year, we will be up close to 87 percent complete or under construction," Morris continued.

The segments still left to be completed are the 15.5 mile section from Kerens to Parsons, the 9.2 mile section from Parsons to Davis and the 6.8 mile section from Wardensville to the Virginia state line.

Due to the current funding structure of the Corridor H project, the estimated completion date is between 22 and 27 years away.

"Currently with the funding mechanism for Corridor H, depending upon which agency you talk to, Corridor H is expected to be completed by either 2037 or 2042," Morris said. "(The state Division of Highways) says 2037, Appalachian Regional Commission says 2042."

Morris said a transportation bill passed a few years ago took away a requirement that a state must match 20 percent of federal funding to complete ADHS Corridors.

[cpzilliacus]

Off topic, but the Ozark Mountains are an eroded plateau, while the Ouachita Mountains are folded mountains. The Ozarks were once flat until they were slowly eroded into what they are today, while the Ouachitas were created when the South American plate crashed into the North American plate and the area that was once a shallow sea was pushed upward. The Ouachitas were once as tall as the Rockies but they have eroded to what they are now.

The Appalachians were created when the African and North American plates crashed into each other, but are much lower than they once were.

[iBallasticwolf2]

The Inter-Mountain.com: Rotary hears Corridor H news

Robbie Morris, president of the Robert C. Byrd Corridor H Authority, gave the Elkins Rotary Club an update on the status of Corridor H construction during the club's Monday meeting.

Morris began by giving a factual overview of the Corridor, saying slightly more than three quarters of the roadway within West Virginia either is completed or currently under construction.

"Corridor H is 130 miles long going from Weston, I-79, eventually to Strasburg, Front Royal and the I-81/I-66 interchange in Virginia," Morris said. "With the 4.4 miles just recently opened around Mt. Storm, 76 percent of the road in West Virginia is now complete, with the recent announcement of another 7.5 mile stretch that will go under construction later on this year.

"By the time the current section from Davis to right around Mt. Storm is completed later on this year, we will be up close to 87 percent complete or under construction," Morris continued.

The segments still left to be completed are the 15.5 mile section from Kerens to Parsons, the 9.2 mile section from Parsons to Davis and the 6.8 mile section from Wardensville to the Virginia state line.

Due to the current funding structure of the Corridor H project, the estimated completion date is between 22 and 27 years away.

"Currently with the funding mechanism for Corridor H, depending upon which agency you talk to, Corridor H is expected to be completed by either 2037 or 2042," Morris said. "(The state Division of Highways) says 2037, Appalachian Regional Commission says 2042."

Morris said a transportation bill passed a few years ago took away a requirement that a state must match 20 percent of federal funding to complete ADHS Corridors.

It is looking good for Corridor H. Virginia is still a long way off from building their part of Corridor H however they do have it in long range plans.

[froggie]

however they do have it in long range plans.

Ummmm, no it's not.  Those reports that VDOT would supposedly have their part finished in the mid-2020s were from overoptimistic West Virginia politicians who misunderstood a VDOT document.  VDOT Staunton District officials have made it clear that they don't have anything on the docket for Corridor H, as recently as last week.

[Mapmikey]

however they do have it in long range plans.

Ummmm, no it's not.  Those reports that VDOT would supposedly have their part finished in the mid-2020s were from overoptimistic West Virginia politicians who misunderstood a VDOT document.  VDOT Staunton District officials have made it clear that they don't have anything on the docket for Corridor H, as recently as last week.

Nothing with Corridor H is in Vtrans 2025 or Vtrans 2035 plans either...

Mike

Fixed quote. - rmf67

[iBallasticwolf2]

however they do have it in long range plans.

Ummmm, no it's not.  Those reports that VDOT would supposedly have their part finished in the mid-2020s were from overoptimistic West Virginia politicians who misunderstood a VDOT document.  VDOT Staunton District officials have made it clear that they don't have anything on the docket for Corridor H, as recently as last week.

Nothing with Corridor H is in Vtrans 2025 or Vtrans 2035 plans either...

Mike

Fixed quote. - rmf67

Oh

[cpzilliacus]

however they do have it in long range plans.

Ummmm, no it's not.  Those reports that VDOT would supposedly have their part finished in the mid-2020s were from overoptimistic West Virginia politicians who misunderstood a VDOT document.  VDOT Staunton District officials have made it clear that they don't have anything on the docket for Corridor H, as recently as last week.

Agree with Adam that it is not in anything that VDOT is working on now or planning on working on in the reasonably near future.

Perhaps more to the point, if it were in the Virginia six year improvement program (sometimes called the "six year plan" or "VDOT six year plan"), even for planning and preliminary engineering, it would show up on the Web site that VDOT has developed for same, which is located here.

[mattpedersen]

I have driven Corridor H twice in the past few weeks, once from Davis to Wardensville two weeks ago, and Bismark to Wardensville yesterday. I snapped some photos two weeks ago, and will try to get them off my phone and posted sometime soon. Sections 26-28 look like they will open by the end of the summer. Sections 22-25 Eastbound lanes are completed and open to two way traffic. The Westbound lanes look like they are still in "rough grading" and appear to have a lot of work to do to get them open. Otherwise the route is an easy drive where it has been completed.

[cpzilliacus]

I have driven Corridor H twice in the past few weeks, once from Davis to Wardensville two weeks ago, and Bismark to Wardensville yesterday. I snapped some photos two weeks ago, and will try to get them off my phone and posted sometime soon. Sections 26-28 look like they will open by the end of the summer. Sections 22-25 Eastbound lanes are completed and open to two way traffic. The Westbound lanes look like they are still in "rough grading" and appear to have a lot of work to do to get them open. Otherwise the route is an easy drive where it has been completed.

It appears to me that a two-lane Corridor H between the current western terminus of the eastern four-lane section at the Tucker County/Grant County border (a few miles west of the DVP Mount Storm Generating Station) and W.Va. 32 between Thomas and Davis should be complete before the current construction season ends.  Not sure that all four lanes will be done, however.  That may have to wait for 2016.

[mattpedersen]

It appears to me that a two-lane Corridor H between the current western terminus of the eastern four-lane section at the Tucker County/Grant County border (a few miles west of the DVP Mount Storm Generating Station) and W.Va. 32 between Thomas and Davis should be complete before the current construction season ends.  Not sure that all four lanes will be done, however.  That may have to wait for 2016.

I agree with that statement. That section was mostly built on it's own ROW too.

[cpzilliacus]

Up to this year, I had seen almost no traffic law enforcement on the eastern part of Corridor H (now Wardensville to outskirts of Davis).

That seems to have changed.  This year, I have seen WVSP as well as deputies from Hardy and Grant Counties stopping motorists (presumably for speeding over the posted 65 MPH limit along most of the road).

[mattpedersen]

That seems to have changed.  This year, I have seen WVSP as well as deputies from Hardy and Grant Counties stopping motorists (presumably for speeding over the posted 65 MPH limit along most of the road).

I saw a WV Trooper heading Westbound on Thursday, the first time I have seen any law enforcement presence on the road.