Public meeting set for next section of King Coal Highway in Mercer Coumty

Feb. 6—By GREG JORDAN

Bluefield Daily Telegraph

BLUEFIELD — In December of last year, a bridge and interstate span that is part of the King Coal Highway opened after a ribbon cutting ceremony, but this event was only one step in extending the new four-lane corridor through southern West Virginia.

On Feb. 20, the public will have the opportunity to learn about the King Coal Highway's future growth in Mercer County, including the next stretch of the roadway that will take it from Airport Road to Littlesburg Road.

The King Coal Highway is a four-lane interstate corridor that will span approximately 95 miles long running through McDowell, Mercer, Mingo, Wyoming and Wayne counties, along or near currently existing U.S. Route 52 from U.S. 119 near Williamson to Interstate 77 in Bluefield. The project is intended to open West Virginia's southern coalfields to economic development.

Gov. Jim Justice, Secretary of the West Virginia Department of Transportation Jimmy Wriston and other area officials celebrated the opening of a three-mile section of the King Coal Highway in December. Extending from Airport Road to John Nash Boulevard near Bluefield, the $68 million project was the first section of the highway to be funded through the $2.8 billion Roads to Prosperity program.

The King Coal Highway will eventually reach into McDowell County and Wyoming County, Justice said during the ribbon cutting. Plans for increasing the new highway's miles in Mercer County are now underway.

The West Virginia Department of Highways (WVDOH) is hosting a public informational workshop Feb. 20 from 4 to 7 p.m. at Bluefield High School. This new section of the King Coal Highway, extending about 2.4 miles, will be a four-lane divided highway, according to a legal notice from the DOH recently published in the Daily Telegraph.

Once completed, this new section will run from the Littlesburg area of WV Route 20 to the portion of the King Coal Highway at John Nash Boulevard in Bluefield, according to the WVDOH.

No formal presentation about the stretch of highway is scheduled for the Feb. 20 public forum, but representatives of the WVDOH and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) will be available to speak about the updates and answer questions from the public.

People wanting to comment about the new King Coal Highway project can submit comments Feb. 20 or mail them to:

Travis Long

Director, Technical Support

Division WVDOH

1334 Smith Street

Charleston, WV 25301

Comments can also be submitted on the WVDOH website at http://go.wv.gov/dotcomment on the internet.

— Contact Greg Jordan at gjordan@bdtonline.com

Contact Greg Jordan at gjordan@bdtonline.com