Airport Road just about finished -- 2025 target construction date for next stretch of King Coal Highway near Bluefield
Nov. 8—BLUEFIELD — Construction on the new Airport Road segment of the King Coal Highway in Bluefield is just about finished with state highway officials hoping to open up the interstate corridor to traffic soon.
In the meantime, right-of-way acquisitions are expected to begin by year's end on the next section of the King Coal Highway in Mercer County. That project will take the four-lane corridor from Airport Road toward Littlesburg Road, according to West Virginia Department of Highways District 10 Engineer Ryland Musick.
Musick said the DOH is looking at 2025 as the target date for the start of construction on the Littlesburg Road segment of the King Coal Highway. Design work on that stretch of the road is already underway.
As for Airport Road, the DOH is hoping to open the new corridor to traffic soon. Musick said a celebration is being planned to coincide with its completion.
"The King Coal Highway project at Airport Road to John Nash Boulevard is progressing well," Musick said Tuesday. "Crews are wrapping up the project with paving, striping and guardrail. WVDOT will reach out with opening dates as soon as we have them confirmed. We look forward to celebrating with you. The next section of King Coal Highway is still in development with right of way acquisition set to begin this year. Construction is likely to begin in 2025."
Work on the $58 million Airport Road contract began in 2018 as part of Gov. Jim Justice's Roads to Prosperity program.
Once the Airport Road stretch of the King Coal Highway is finished, traffic that exits Interstate 77 from Exit 1 in Bluefield will be able to connect to the K.A. Ammar Interchange at John Nash Boulevard, and from there travel across the Christine West Bridge high atop Stoney Ridge — not far from the Mercer Mall — before crossing Kee Dam along the new Airport Road bridge and interchange.
Work on the three interconnected projects date back more than 20 years ago. The K.A. Ammar Interchange was completed in 2003 and the Christine West Bridge in 2009. Work on the current contract along Airport Road began in 2018. However, the K.A. Ammar Interchange and the Christine West Bridge has never been opened to traffic.
The King Coal Highway is West Virginia's local corridor of the future Interstate 73/74/75 routing.
Once completed the King Coal Highway will extend 95 miles through Mercer, McDowell, Mingo, Wyoming and Wayne counties. It will connect U.S. 119 near Williamson to Interstate 77 in Bluefield, and is intended to open up the Mountain State's coalfields to economic development and connect the region with markets to the north and south.
The final Interstate 73/74/75 routing is supposed to run from Detroit, Mich., to Myrtle Beach, S.C., opening up a large swath of southern West Virginia to interstate access.
— Contact Charles Owens at cowens@bdtonline.com
— Contact Charles Owens at cowens@bdtonline.com. Follow him @BDTOwens
