CROSS LANES, W.Va. — Two construction companies submitted bids Tuesday on a major project impacting one of the most congested highways in Kanawha County.
The state Division of Highways accepted bids for the widening to five lanes of state Route 622 through the heart of Cross Lanes.
Plans are to widen the road over a 1.5 mile stretch from near Interstate 64 to Andrew Jackson Middle School. Route 622 currently has two main lanes and a middle turning lane.
DOH Project Manager Dirar Ahmad said the project will double the capacity of the current highway which is often backed up with traffic.
“Instead of traffic going one lane in each direction you’ll have two lanes in each direction,” he said.
The project also calls for the changing of the traffic pattern from I-64 to the Big Tyler Road intersection and the reconfiguration of the major intersections which Ahmad said will include dedicated right hand turn lanes.
“That helps tremendously because then you can configure the signal and the timing for the side roads doesn’t have to be that long and you can move more traffic on the main line,” he said.
St. Albans-based Triton Construction submitted the apparent low bid Tuesday for $29.7 million while Clarksburg-based Bear Contracting submitted a bid for $37 million. The DOH will choose the winning bid in the near future.
Ahmad said he’s disappointed there weren’t more bids but he said some contractors aren’t interested in the project because it will have to be done while traffic is still moving and there’s not a lot of additional room to add the new lanes of traffic. The project has required the purchasing of more than 60 separate parcels of land.
The project, which will be done in stages, is expected to take parts of three construction seasons. Ahmad said motorists will be well-informed about any traffic flow changes.
“It will be difficult in the beginning until people understand the traffic pattern. We will always have one lane open in each direction so that will not change,” he said. “We’ll inform the public and they will not be surprised to wake up one morning and see things they haven’t expected.”
State officials said funding for the project is coming from the Roads to Prosperity program.
Ahmad said the project has been in the planning stages for 15 years. The DOH held a public meeting to discuss the plans in July 2019.