SOUTH CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Nearly $68 million will be spent in the next two years to relieve traffic in one of the Kanawha Valley’s most heavily congested areas.
State Transportation Secretary Jimmy Wriston told a group of South Charleston residents Monday evening that work is ramping up on the Jefferson Road widening/Trace Fork bridge projects.
The DOH will spend nearly $47 million to reconfigure and widen what’s known as Jefferson Road from Corridor G to MacCorkle Avenue near the I-64 interchange. It’s a main connection from the interstate to the Southridge shopping area and points south. A second project, set to cost approximately $11 million, will construct an access road and bridge from Jefferson Road to the backside of the Trace Fork shopping area.
The bridge is scheduled to be done by Fall 2023, the new Jefferson Road a year later, Fall 2024.
Wriston said construction will take place simultaneously. Several issues have held up the Jefferson Road project since the bid was awarded in 2019. The bridge project, under a separate contract, has been awarded in the last six months. Wriston said it makes sense to do them at the same time.
“We made a decision to get in, get it done, get out and stay out,” Wriston said.
Residents react
Several area residents at Monday evening’s meeting expressed concern about construction times, blasting, dust and temporary access roads.
“These are big complicated projects,” Wriston told MetroNews after speaking with residents. “The impact and benefit are going to greatly outweigh the short period of pain. It’s just the price that we pay to try and make things better for everybody.”
South Charleston resident John Kutil said the two-year construction period will present some challenges as he tries to enter and exit Forest Edge Drive along Jefferson Road but he believes it will be short time pain for a long time gain.
“My concern are things in between. The temporary access road may be gravel and I can just envision that being a lot of dust in the area. I think they should find a way to put down some asphalt,” Kutil said. “It just depends, if it’s a week or two we can handle it but not two years. That’s just not acceptable.”
Traffic impacted
DOH District 1 Construction Engineer Gary Mullins said traffic will begin to be impacted in late-April. He said orange barrels will be going up near the Jefferson Road intersection with Kanawha Turnpike.
Mullins said the current highway will be significantly narrowed.
“For the majority of the job there will be two 11-foot lanes and a two-foot shoulder instead of two 12-foot lanes and 10-foot shoulders,” Mullins said.
Contractors will begin tearing houses down next week with earthmoving work to begin after that. The design of the 5-lane highway will include the removal of a significant curve near U.S. Route 119 (Corridor G). Mullins said the existing highway will be move to the north by 63 feet.
Mullins added the new bridge from Trace Fork will tie in to Jefferson Road with a standard t-intersection that will include a traffic light.
Uniqueness of project
Wriston said there are several things to get excited about with the project. It will include a unique overpass that will travel over a main CSX rail line.
“That’s the one element that will have the biggest impact,” Wriston predicted. “I’ve personally seen folks wait out there forever while trains are blocking that road and it just doesn’t seem to end. This completely takes that out of play.”
The project also includes a roundabout for those getting on and off the new Jefferson Road and a new right-hand turn lane at the Jefferson Road intersection with MacCorkle Avenue.
For now all of the work is scheduled to be completed in about 29 months. Wriston said it may happen sooner.
“I’ve got a real impatient boss (Gov. Jim Justice) so we’ll going to be crowding and pushing them (the contractor) all they want and they’ll want to get done too and get on to the next job. We got a real big infrastructure program that they’re going to want a piece of,” Wriston said.
The Jefferson Road project is a design-build project with Kokosing Construction in charge. Triton Construction is building the Trace Fork Bridge.