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[hbelkins]

Out today scouting the upcoming meet that will involve East Beckley Bypass construction. From the looks of things, after the route crosses Ragland Road, it's going to curve behind the post office, tie in to Industrial Road, and then end at US 19/WV 16.

Is this going to be the semi-permanent end of the route for some time to come? Significant right of way acquisitions involving some decent sized businesses will be required to advance it to the north.

[froggie]

This WVDOH news release from 2 years ago suggests that, yes, this will be the permanent end of the bypass.  The news release specifically states that this construction is the "final section of the East Beckley Bypass."

[hbelkins]

This WVDOH news release from 2 years ago suggests that, yes, this will be the permanent end of the bypass.  The news release specifically states that this construction is the "final section of the East Beckley Bypass."

Then IMHO the extension north of WV 41 is useless.

EDIT: I know Brent Walker through TransComm (AASHTO Committee on Transportation Communications). He had a couple of huge FAILs in that press release. County 41 and County 16?

[Black-Man]

This WVDOH news release from 2 years ago suggests that, yes, this will be the permanent end of the bypass.  The news release specifically states that this construction is the "final section of the East Beckley Bypass."

Then IMHO the extension north of WV 41 is useless.

Wha..wha...What?? 3-lane Eisenhower Dr. is major congestion between 41 and Ragland Rd. The only downside of dumping the road out onto Industrial Dr. is inviting cross-town traffic up and across Maxwell Hill which is a residential area - not a through way - and is already raising concerns. They desperately need a cross-town connector - hence their Z-Way pipe dream.

[Bitmapped]

Extending the East Beckley Bypass north of WV 41 is useful in that it avoids the 3-lane section of Eisenhower Drive which tends to be congested. The tie-in by Industrial Drive is the permanent intended end of the road.

Widening Eisenhower Drive to 5 lanes would have been much more useful than the bypass, IMHO.

[GCrites80s]

EDIT: I know Brent Walker through TransComm (AASHTO Committee on Transportation Communications). He had a couple of huge FAILs in that press release. County 41 and County 16?

Is he a transplant from another state?

[hbelkins]

If the bypass is intended to end where Industrial Road runs into US 19, they should have reconfigured that intersection to make the Bypass/Byrd connection the through movement. Otherwise, you're going to have a long line of southbound traffic waiting to turn left onto the bypass.

Plus, if US 19 is going to be routed onto the bypass, what will become of existing US 19? What number will it get?

[hbelkins]

EDIT: I know Brent Walker through TransComm (AASHTO Committee on Transportation Communications). He had a couple of huge FAILs in that press release. County 41 and County 16?

Is he a transplant from another state?

Unknown, but he's been in WV for awhile, as he's made reference to working under several administrations.

[Bitmapped]

If the bypass is intended to end where Industrial Road runs into US 19, they should have reconfigured that intersection to make the Bypass/Byrd connection the through movement. Otherwise, you're going to have a long line of southbound traffic waiting to turn left onto the bypass.

Plus, if US 19 is going to be routed onto the bypass, what will become of existing US 19? What number will it get?

Ragland Road, the fourth leg of the Robert C. Byrd/Eisenhower intersection, is fairly heavily trafficked on its own. There's no great way to reconfigure the intersection. Robert C. Byrd southbound is already a free-flowing movement.

I haven't seen anything indicating what the final number of Eisenhower Drive will be. My gut feeling is a new WV route number but a county route wouldn't surprise me either. None of the other WV routes in the area are really logical to extend along this route.

[Bitmapped]

After a series of delays, WVDOH terminated its contract with Mike Enyart & Sons for building the East Beckley Bypass earlier this month. It has let bids with a October 3 deadline to complete the work. DOH hopes to open the section from WV 41 (Stanaford Road) to Ragland Road this winter and finish the rest by next summer.

WWVA-TV has an article with more info at http://www.wvva.com/story/36414653/2017/09/Wednesday/wva-doh-to-call-it-quits-with-contractor-on-beckley-z-way-project .

[hbelkins]

It really didn't look like there was terribly much left to do, just some earth moving and paving. That section won't require a large amount of excavating.

After reading the story, I think there's a moral here: Don't let a construction contract until you have bought all the right-of-way, or at least secured right of entry.

[Rothman]

Heh.  Up here in NY, NYSDOT regions have to request a special waiver to do just that.  Only come across desks rarely and they are almost always denied.

Once a decade there may be one that gets through, with ROW being closed in the very short term.

[hbelkins]

We had a huge political scandal here in Kentucky last year about such an incident. On its way out the door last year, the outgoing administration, at the direction of the governor, awarded a contract before the ROW was all purchased. Construction was not able to begin before all the ROW was cleared, and the state ended up having to pay a huge penalty to the contractor. The incoming administration delayed the start of the project until they got the ROW, and the state legislator there claimed the project had been stopped because he had not changed parties.

[74/171FAN]

Apparently this link is the latest update stating that this part is complete.  I could not find any other source easily.