CHARLESTON, W.Va.— Hundreds of road work projects are currently underway throughout the state with the kick-off of the summer season, and West Virginia Division of Highway officials met Monday for an open house discussing the progress on those projects with elected officials across several counties.
It’s a statewide communication effort the DOH is conducting in all ten districts to inform elected officials on what they have accomplished in 2022 as well as what’s in store for 2023. Maintenance Engineer for WVDOH District 1, Kathy Rushworth said there seems to be an ongoing issue with communication on the projects between constituents and county officials, and the open house is a way to help bridge that gap.
“It’s difficult for the county officials to not have a contact person to be able to call and say ‘can you give me a quick update on this,’ so I think this is really effective to let them know that we do have a plan an we are working efficiently here,” said Rushworth.
Officials from Kanawha, Putnam, and Boone counties were to join the discussion Monday morning with questions about specific projects in the area, including I-64 paving updates, and Kanawha City and MacCorkle Avenue reconstruction.
Chief Engineer of District Operations with WVDOH, Joe Pack told MetroNews that a major project of many citizens’ interest is a paving project on Interstate 64 between Dunbar and Charleston. He confirmed preliminary work has begun to first repair the concrete slabs underneath the asphalt on the eastbound side, and the same will be done to the westbound before the final layer of new asphalt can go down.
Pack said beyond the I-64 work, many other major undertakings are being put into action this year around the area in addition to the annual basic maintenance work.
“It seems like we have a lot of major projects going on right now, we have that project, then of course we have two major projects going on on MacCorkle Avenue at the same time that are large in scope and are really going to make drastic improvements to the roadway, not to mention what you would call just our routine paving projects and bridge replacement and repair projects,” said Pack.
District 1 Acting Engineer, Ryan Canfield said the two major projects along MacCorkle Avenue currently seem to be on schedule and are moving along well.
He said Phase 1 from 33rd Street to 40th is a complete reconstruction project, replacing drainage, lighting, sidewalks, ramps and asphalt, while Phase 2 from 40th to 58th Streets are milling and filling work, and repairing the deteriorating concrete sections before placing new asphalt down on top.
“Both are going on simultaneously right now, currently work is going on from 33rd to 40th on the one contract heading towards Chelyan, and then from 40th to 58th we only have nine blocks going right now, inside lanes, partially paved in phase 1,” Canfield said.
Pack said the challenge along MacCorkle has been coordinating the traffic flow with the work but also confirmed they are currently on schedule. Canfield said the first contract is expected to be complete in July of next year, and they are hoping to get second contract done by the end of this year.
Core maintenance was another major topic of discussion Monday, which includes pothole patching, ditching, mowing, snow removal and ice control. Rushworth said the new plan for all of the roads maintained by the Division of Highways is to now receive maintenance on an annual basis.
She said pothole patching in particular had never been able to be successfully completed by the end of each year in the past, but now that’s changing.
“Last year, the summer of 2022 was the first year that every road was patched and we could mark them all off on our list, and once we did it the first time now this year in 2023 it has been much faster,” Rushworth said.
Pack said along with quicker road improvements, better communication and transparency with the community and increased safety are also number one goals of the department this year.
“Secretary Wriston (state Transportation Secretary Jimmy Wriston) has given us two challenges with the Division of Highways in 2023, one is traffic awareness and safety within work zones and having zero deaths within those work zones, and the other is communication, because, most communication, if done properly, makes everyone feel good, sometimes even being told no is acceptable if the communication is done properly,” said Pack.
A few Putnam County city councilmen at Monday’s open house expressed some specific roadway concerns during the morning portion, and Mason and Clay County officials would be meeting with the Division of Highways during the afternoon portion.