UPDATE: WV DOT announces delay in opening due to forecasted rain; was suppose to be Tuesday, now will do so later this week, exact day TBA.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Mayor Amy Shuler Goodwin says she has heard criticism from locals over the Oakwood Intersection Improvement project as it nears completion this week.
Beginning on Tuesday, the West Virginia Division of Highways (DOH) is opening up the new traffic pattern along Route 119 in Kanawha County, called the R-Cut. It’ll be the first R-Cut, standing for Restricted Crossing U-Turn, in the Mountain State.
Goodwin appeared on Monday’s 580-LIVE on 580-WCHS and said she hopes the project achieves two goals: keeping kids safe around the intersection that is near three schools and cutting down on the accidents.
“It’s easy to be critical when a big change happens because that’s your natural reaction to say ‘it’s not going to work.’ I hope it works, I really do,” she said.
With the new traffic pattern, motorists coming from the east side of Oakwood who want to head north on Corridor G toward Charleston will turn right like they always have. Drivers who want to head south toward Southridge Center or go back onto Oakwood will turn right and proceed north to the new R-Cut at Hickory Road, where a traffic light will allow them to turn left onto Corridor G heading south, the DOH explained.
Drivers coming from the west side of Oakwood who want to head south toward Southridge Center will turn right like they always have. Drivers who want to head north toward Charleston or get back onto Oakwood Road will instead turn right and proceed to the new R-Cut at Lawndale Lane, where a traffic light will allow them to turn left onto Corridor G heading north, the DOH explained.
Goodwin noted how George Washington High School, John Adams Middle School and Oakwood Elementary School traffic all use that intersection and it’s busy in the morning and during rush hour. It’s also one of the main entrances to the South Hills neighborhood of Charleston.
Ryan Canfield, DOH project manager for the R-Cut project previously told MetroNews this work will eliminate the left-hand turn and straight through at the Oakwood Road intersection.
“For the students, parents, teachers, for the folks that live in the area and the businesses, you will not be able to turn left onto 119. You’re going to have to turn right to come out, even if you’re going to Southridge,” she explained on the show.
Canfield further explained that the R-Cut will cut the wait time from three minutes to one minute for those on Oakwood Road. He said the R-Cut will be studied and could be a solution to other trafficked areas in the state.
The Oakwood Road project started in August 2020 and the bid price was $5.8 million by Mountaineer Contractors. DOH officials said this was not the original project plan for the interchange, which was first estimated to be $30 million.
“We received a lot of pushback and feedback on ‘this isn’t going to make it better’ and ‘it’s going to create delays,'” Goodwin said.