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US 35 in West Virginia

Started by hbelkins, October 20, 2013, 04:52:14 PM

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hbelkins



Government would be tolerable if not for politicians and bureaucrats.


Buck87

My guess would be farm equipment. I got caught up in a similar backup caused by a combine the only time I've ever driven that stretch of road.

Crazy Volvo Guy

#27
Idiot super trucker not paying attention to what he was doing smacked a left-turning car from behind.  I didn't get to see the car, but a tow guy went by with the truck and it didn't look all that badly damaged, but it was probably worse than it looked.  Chatter on the CB indicated that the car was properly mangled.

I sat long enough (30 minutes off-duty) to reset my 8-hour clock.
I hate Clearview, because it looks like a cheap Chinese ripoff.

I'm for the Red Sox and whoever's playing against the Yankees.

SP Cook

Those are the issues.  Trucks.  Farmers.  Motorists.

The fact is many of today's truckers and motorists simply do not know how to drive an ordinary two lane rural road.  We are past the point where it really is necessary very much, and it is a skill that people have never learned.  And the ag equipment.  This is as close as WV comes to farm country.  Lots of slow moving tractors have to use the road to get from plot to plot.  There is no alternative or back road (which is why just twinning the existing road won't work). 


GCrites


NE2

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".

seicer

Surber was a horrid columnist who was canned not too long ago for comparing people in Ferguson, Missouri to animals: http://wvmetronews.com/2014/10/30/charleston-newspaper-fires-columnist-surber-over-inexcusable-comments/

He had other run-ins as well, and this was just the tip.

SP Cook

Lexington's Bizzack Construction is the low bidder for an "everything except paving" contract for the remaining  14 mile deathroad gap in US 35.  Construction will start, probably, Spring 16 and finish Fall 18.   Bizzack's contract includes design, grading, drainage and all bridge work, leaving out only paving, guardrailing and signage.

Paving work will be bid later.  Assuming no hicups, it should follow on in construction season of 19, meaning the road should be open in late 19 or early 20.


hbelkins

Ha. That's probably payback for Kanawha Stone coming in here and taking away a project in Bizzack's territory a few years ago -- the second, stimulus-funded portion of the KY 15 four-laning in Breathitt County. Bizzack had done the first section but Kanawha Stone came in and underbid them on the second section.

Not surprising that they didn't include paving. In Kentucky, Bizzack no longer paves and I don't think Mountain Enterprises is a Bizzack subsidiary anymore. They subcontract paving to whichever company has the blacktop plant monopoly in that particular county.


Government would be tolerable if not for politicians and bureaucrats.

Bitmapped

Quote from: hbelkins on May 20, 2015, 05:04:59 PM
Ha. That's probably payback for Kanawha Stone coming in here and taking away a project in Bizzack's territory a few years ago -- the second, stimulus-funded portion of the KY 15 four-laning in Breathitt County. Bizzack had done the first section but Kanawha Stone came in and underbid them on the second section.

Not surprising that they didn't include paving. In Kentucky, Bizzack no longer paves and I don't think Mountain Enterprises is a Bizzack subsidiary anymore. They subcontract paving to whichever company has the blacktop plant monopoly in that particular county.

DOH wasn't even accepting bids for paving at this letting.  It's generally standard practice for them to split grade/drain from paving.

hbelkins

Quote from: Bitmapped on May 22, 2015, 12:04:45 AM
DOH wasn't even accepting bids for paving at this letting.  It's generally standard practice for them to split grade/drain from paving.

Kentucky generally includes surfacing in grade and drain contracts, although there have been exceptions.


Government would be tolerable if not for politicians and bureaucrats.

ARMOURERERIC

So will this complete the work within West Virginia?

Bitmapped

Quote from: ARMOURERERIC on May 22, 2015, 08:14:25 PM
So will this complete the work within West Virginia?

Once they do the paving contract.

wriddle082

I'm surprised no one else posted this.  The end of two lane hell is in sight!

Groundbreaking Ceremony Held for Final Stretch of US Route 35
http://www.wsaz.com/news/headlines/Ground-Breaking-Ceremony-Set-for-Final-Stretch-of-US-Route-35--332620731.html

The Ghostbuster


codyg1985

They still have to let the contract to pave it.

QuoteHowever, the state still has to find a contractor to pave the road once construction is complete. A project with an estimated $70M dollar price tag.

The Department of Transportation looks to have a contractor picked sometime before the project is finished.

If that happens, the paving project could be completed sometime in spring 2019.
Cody Goodman
Huntsville, AL, United States

wriddle082

Quote from: codyg1985 on October 15, 2015, 04:23:20 PM
They still have to let the contract to pave it.

Very true, but grading and bridge work do take some time, and perhaps with China's economy tanking, the price of asphalt will go down, and it won't quite cost $70M.

oscar

Quote from: wriddle082 on October 15, 2015, 04:07:24 PM
I'm surprised no one else posted this.  The end of two lane hell is in sight!

"In sight" means, according to the article you linked, not until spring 2019 (when paving would be completed).
my Hot Springs and Highways pages, with links to my roads sites:
http://www.alaskaroads.com/home.html

hbelkins

If West Virginia is anything like Kentucky, there will be only one bidder for paving unless they do "pavement alternatives" and allow for both asphalt and concrete to be considered. It being West Virginia, I'd expect concrete.


Government would be tolerable if not for politicians and bureaucrats.

Crowbar

Hi, all.   Does anyone know if/when the US 35 construction in WV is/will be completed?  We're heading to Hilton Head this summer and thought about going that way from Central Ohio instead of taking 33 to 77.   I've heard horror stories about the two-lane stretch of US 35 in WV, and don't need to get stuck in traffic.  US 33 isn't too bad, but a good portion southeast of Athens is two lanes, and invariably we get stuck behind someone driving way under the speed limit.   If US 35 is complete then we can go that way.

hbelkins

Quote from: Crowbar on January 18, 2018, 10:27:53 AM
Hi, all.   Does anyone know if/when the US 35 construction in WV is/will be completed?  We're heading to Hilton Head this summer and thought about going that way from Central Ohio instead of taking 33 to 77.   I've heard horror stories about the two-lane stretch of US 35 in WV, and don't need to get stuck in traffic.  US 33 isn't too bad, but a good portion southeast of Athens is two lanes, and invariably we get stuck behind someone driving way under the speed limit.   If US 35 is complete then we can go that way.

US 35 is not complete. I honestly haven't heard horror stories about the traffic for the not-all-that-long portion between the two four-lane sections.

As for US 33, the two-lane portion is of recent vintage with good sight lines, so traffic moves well on it.


Government would be tolerable if not for politicians and bureaucrats.

SP Cook

The 2-lane section of 35 will not be replaced for several years.   While it is inadequate and thus dangerous, traffic flows at a reasonable safe speed.  Unless there is an accident or weather, there is no "traffic horror story", just 12 miles of rural 2 lane farm country road.  You need to pay attention, brake check tailgaters/don't tailgate, and just ride it out and not pass no matter how much you want to.

The new 4-lane is generally a totally new road being built a few hundred yards south of the current road (which will become a local road for local residents when the new one is completed) and not what HB calls a "Virginia Twin".  Construction does not impact the current road's flow.

Crowbar

My friend mentioned how they tried coming back from NC using 35, and they got stuck for over an hour due to an accident up the road - they ended up turning around and going back to 64 and going up 33.

Don't mind using 33 - figured taking 35 would be a nice change of pace.   We have two little kids with us, and my wife, to be blunt, is a PITA when it comes to traffic. If we get stuck behind someone using 35, she'll bitch about why I didn't go down 33. If they were finished with 35, then I'd take that as it would be 4 lane all the way.

Thanks.

hbelkins

Use Waze. If there's something blocking the two-lane portion of 35, take WV 62 (which was the route of US 35 up until the Silver Bridge collapse) on the other side of the Kanawha River, and cross at Buffalo onto the new US 35 segment.


Government would be tolerable if not for politicians and bureaucrats.

SP Cook

#49
http://wvmetronews.com/2019/04/19/paving-contract-awarded-for-route-35-gap-project/

Final paving contract awarded, to WV Paving.  Completion in October 2020 (just before Election Day). 

IMHO, long past due.  The existing road is simply dangerous. 

<edit> WV Paving, sorry.



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