Corridor H

[hbelkins]

Actually, I think I've provided some logical reasons why, when completed, Corridor H would be a logical through route over I-70 from St. Louis to DC.

[Alps]

I disconcur. Since that's a made up word, I win the argument by using it.

[NE2]

Run St. Louis to DC via I-70 and via I-64/I-79/Corridor H for a better comparison.

That's the first comparison I made. I-70 wins.

[froggie]

I also ran the St. Louis-DC comparison.  And yes, I-70 wins.

Taking a straight I-70 shot to Frederick (then 270 down to DC) yields 827 miles, though this involves tolls on the PA Turnpike between New Stanton and Breezewood, plus the Breezewood situation.

Using I-79 and I-68 to avoid the Turnpike and Breezewood yields 835 miles.

The "direct route" through West Virginia that Google Maps recommends, continuing on US 33 from Elkins to WV 55, is 842 miles.

A rough approximation of the Corridor H route is 848 miles, though I believe this will be a few miles less once construction concludes.

Conclusion:  I-70 is close to 20 miles shorter.  And having to deal with Breezewood is more than countered by the 21 miles of 2-lane US 48 between Wardensville and Strasburg.  The toll/Breezewood avoidance route likewise is more than 10 miles shorter than Corridor H along mostly-65 MPH Interstate.

[J N Winkler]

I did a quick check of St. Louis-to-DC routings and found the mileage values Froggie reports.  However, the 842-mile "direct route" involving I-64 has a reported driving time of 14 hours 26 minutes, which is the best of the three I tried (I-70/Pennsylvania Turnpike, I-70/I-68, I-64), despite being the longest by 7 miles.  I-70/Pennsylvania Turnpike had the longest reported driving time of 14 hours 46 minutes.

I continue to believe that I-70/Pennsylvania Turnpike will be the preferred route for truckers because of the grades.

[mtfallsmikey]

Actually, I think I've provided some logical reasons why, when completed, Corridor H would be a logical through route over I-70 from St. Louis to DC.

I agree, if it is ever completed to it's intended destination.

[dave19]

http://www.theintermountain.com/page/content.detail/id/550875/Corridor-H-board-pushes-ahead.html?nav=5014

http://www.theintermountain.com/page/content.detail/id/550876/Senate-bill-makes-highway-project-a--national-priority-.html?nav=5014

[mtfallsmikey]

So, who's going to pay the tab for the Va. portion of the road?

[hbelkins]

As of right now, nobody. Virginia doesn't have any plans to build its portion. I don't know if that will change after WV gets its part built or not. Truth be told, the Virginia portion of US 48 is not that bad of a road.

[NE2]

Since some Kentucky corridors are two-lane, there's no reason you can't call the Virginia portion complete.

[dave19]

I've driven US 48 in VA... it's a decent road, and it wouldn't be too difficult to "arterialize" the road like they did with US 522 north of Winchester. A short bypass around Lebanon Church would be in order.

There was a story in a local paper last year (I believe it was the Buckhannon paper) where the republican gubernatorial candidate claimed that he spoke to the gov. of VA regarding Corridor H. He claimed that the VA gov. would be interested in working with a republican gov. from WV to get H done. Seems unlikely to me, but that's politicians for you. I wish I could provide a link, but that paper never did put the article on their web site (which is just about useless, anyway).

[hbelkins]

Since some Kentucky corridors are two-lane, there's no reason you can't call the Virginia portion complete.

The Kentucky (and Tennessee) two-lane corridors have passing lanes and most have 10-foot paved shoulders. Definitely not the case with US 48/VA 55.

In my experience that route is the easiest east-west border crossing in that area among surface routes, excepting US 50. US 33, US 250, SR 84 and SR 39 are pretty wicked.

[mtfallsmikey]

I've driven US 48 in VA... it's a decent road, and it wouldn't be too difficult to "arterialize" the road like they did with US 522 north of Winchester. A short bypass around Lebanon Church would be in order.

There was a story in a local paper last year (I believe it was the Buckhannon paper) where the republican gubernatorial candidate claimed that he spoke to the gov. of VA regarding Corridor H. He claimed that the VA gov. would be interested in working with a republican gov. from WV to get H done. Seems unlikely to me, but that's politicians for you. I wish I could provide a link, but that paper never did put the article on their web site (which is just about useless, anyway).

The original plan for U.S. 48/Va. 55, from the top of North Mt. at the border to I-81 at least when I went to the Corridor H meetings years ago, was a completly new highway parallelling the existing one, for the most part slightly to the north of existing Rt. 55. Estimated cost at the beginning was around 90-100M. I don't think our Gov-ner will commit anything to that, since the big deal is finishing Metro to Dulles airport. I will surprised if Corridor H in Va. will ever be built in my lifetime, maybe for you youngsters...

[dave19]

Mike, I don't believe your gov-ner will commit to it either. When I read that story, I took it with a grain of salt - we all know that politicians will say or claim just about anything, regardless of party affiliation!

[seicer]

Corridor H/US 48's western terminus at Knobley Road/CO 3 in Grant County, West Virginia northwest of Petersburg. Segments to the west are not signed US 48 currently.

(And yes, a lot of Corridor H has been completed or is under construction in West Virginia. I have more photos to process from the trip, which did not involve photographing Corridor H, but includes a few shots of the ROW clearing and construction along WV 93 east of Davis to Knobley Road.

[hbelkins]

Corridor H/US 48's western terminus at Knobley Road/CO 3 in Grant County, West Virginia northwest of Petersburg. Segments to the west are not signed US 48 currently.

(And yes, a lot of Corridor H has been completed or is under construction in West Virginia. I have more photos to process from the trip, which did not involve photographing Corridor H, but includes a few shots of the ROW clearing and construction along WV 93 east of Davis to Knobley Road.

Looks like they have made a lot of progress on the bridge beyond the Knobley Road access since the last time I was there.

[dave19]

Travelled up the the construction area last Monday (6/25). This is near the same site as the above photo, closer to the bridge.
Post Merge: July 03, 2012, 08:18:22 PM

This image is at the east end of the bridge carrying US 48 over county routes 1 and 42/3 northeast of Scherr, looking eastward. The approaches to the bridges are not in yet, but the road is paved on both sides of the bridge. As for the access road between WV 93 north of Scherr and US 48, it is paved except for the bridge approaches and the intersection with 93. You can see its bridge over CR 1 from route 93. The big bridge over 93 north of here is done.

[dave19]

There is another bridge over CR 1 not too far north of the one over county routes 1 and 42/3. Here's a photo of its underside - with goats under the bridge!

I would have taken a few more photos but had tripod trouble, so I gave up.

To the west: grading continues on both sides of WV 42 south of Mt. Storm; a short relocation of 42 at the crossing is present. Grassy Ridge Road will overpass the new road; its bridge construction is well under way. The interchange between Bismarck and the dam will be getting girders installed next week. You can see the construction of the bridge over the river off to your right before you get to the RR crossing. Earthmoving continues about a mile past the Tucker County line. Trees have been cut down on the right of way until about a mile before Davis along WV 93.

[dave19]

http://www.wvcorridorh.com/mapping/

[Grzrd]

This Op-Ed from a candidate for West Virginia's 2nd Congressional District makes the Homeland Security case for converting Corridor H to I-66:

Corridor H is easily the most important infrastructure project in the state and, when completed, will result in our greatest return on investment.
Unfortunately, Corridor H has long been labeled a pork-barrel project nationally with virtually no politically defensible reason to exist when viewed from that perspective.
But recasting Corridor H's political image can and should be a top priority for West Virginia's congressional delegation.
It begins by making the case for funding its completion as Interstate 66 under the auspices of Homeland Security as a planned evacuation route for Washington and Northern Virginia. ....
Direct access to the Virginia Inland Port in Front Royal, Va., could benefit West Virginia tremendously by opening the state's heartland to a wide range of new international business and industrial opportunities.
This is especially true given the soon-to-be-completed Panama Canal expansion, coupled with the fact that the inland port serves as a designated U.S. Customs and U.S. Department of Agriculture point of entry ....
Let's borrow a page from the Eisenhower administration and expand upon what has been proven to be one of the greatest economic development projects in our nation's history.
I-66 is worth fighting for, and when it is completed it will yield one of the highest returns of any investment in infrastructure in West Virginia history.

An interesting dream ...
I wonder if the Homeland Security angle would also work for the VA 28 to I-366 conversion? 

[agentsteel53]

I-66 is worth fighting for, and when it is completed it will yield one of the highest returns of any investment in infrastructure in West Virginia history.

are we anticipating now that all that hot air down in Washington DC will spontaneously ignite, necessitating an evacuation?

[dave19]

I have read this stuff before in another newspaper article regarding Mr. Swint's candidacy... I wonder if he realizes how many at-grade intersections there are on the existing sections of Corridor H that would have to be eliminated in order to meet interstate highway standards.

Some of the at-grade intersections that currently exist do need some safety improvements such as longer deceleration lanes.

His statements regarding I-68 and I-73/74 in WV are incorrect. He needs to really play up the connection to Front Royal and its possible economic benefits, and not worry about whether it's US 48 or I-66.

[Beltway]

<<< I wonder if he realizes how many at-grade intersections there are on the existing sections of Corridor H that would have to be eliminated in order to meet interstate highway standards. >>>

It would be very expensive, and most likely require a new NEPA EIS study on what was/is a controversial highway.

Isn't the average spacing of at-grade intersections about 1/2 mile?  That would be a huge project involving lots of right-of-way acquisition.

[froggie]

Isn't the average spacing of at-grade intersections about 1/2 mile?

The average spacing is just under a mile.  Shortest spacing is 2/10ths, while the longest is 2-and-a-quarter.

[Beltway]

Isn't the average spacing of at-grade intersections about 1/2 mile?

The average spacing is just under a mile.  Shortest spacing is 2/10ths, while the longest is 2-and-a-quarter.

Much too close for rural Interstate interchange spacing, which is typically ranging between 2 and 8 miles, with 4 or 5 miles on the average.

So each intersection would need to be evaluated for construction of one of 3 treatments --
1) build grade-separation bridge for crossroad, and 4 ramps
2) build grade-separation bridge for crossroad, with no ramps
3) sever crossroad, no grade-separation bridge

Local population would have opinions about whether they would want to see access to the highway eliminated at a particular intersection, or have their local road severed or rerouted to another bridge crossing via construction of a service road.