Work to improve the infrastructure around the new Summit Bechtel Boy Scout High Adventure Camp in Fayette County is moving along. DOH officials say when planning started there were a number of road improvements which were needed to handle the anticipated traffic in the area for the Jamboree in June.
Jimmy Wriston with the Department of Highways says there are still two of those projects to get out for bid, but he believes despite the weather they’ll be able to finish all of the work on time.
“We’ve got six months to go and we have a lot of work to do yet, but I think we’ll be fine,” he said. “Most of the projects we have done to our highway system are complete, but we have two left to be let.”
Wriston says the list of needs included improvements to US Route 19 with a new turning lane as far away as Cross Roads Mall in Beckley and a new Mt. Hope interchange. The biggest projects were the widening of Mill Creek Road which will be the main entrance to the facility and improvements to Route 61.
“We added some turn lanes there and improved the roadway from 61 up to where the old sawmill was,” said Wriston. “We had good data and we’ve worked closely with the Boy Scouts and all entities involved. It’s been a pretty good partnership all along.”
The new facility is expected to bring thousands of people into Fayette County. Wriston says that will be a lot of automobiles and they want to have the infrastructure in place to handle those people. Unlike other projects, this one has been well planned and they won’t be behind and have a mess on their hands when it happens.
“It’s like anything, it’s the partnership and the communication between those partners that can make you or break you,” said Wriston.