Department of Transportation Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Brooke County’s Wellsburg Bridge Finalist For National Transportation Award

One year ago, thousands of West Virginians and Ohioans gathered at the Ohio River to celebrate the opening of the Wellsburg Bridge.

Stretching 1,875 feet across the river, the bridge has connected the Brooke County city of Wellsburg with the Ohio community of Brilliant since September 2023.

The West Virginia Division of Highways project cost roughly $131 million, establishing a 4,100-ton bridge in a community tens of miles away from the nearest river crossing.

Recently, the project’s acclaim has extended beyond Appalachia. The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) has named it one of 12 finalists for America’s Transportation Award.

The annual prize is awarded to a transportation project in the United States that excels in safety, community development, innovation and operations, according to the award program’s website.

Other finalists come from around the country, from an Arizona interstate improvement project to Florida pedestrian safety efforts.

The Wellsburg Bridge is eligible for the grand prize, which is determined by AASHTO staff, as well as the people’s choice award, which is determined by public voting.

The bridge is aesthetically striking, with an 830-foot main span that cuts a 40-minute drive to a five-minute trip, according to highway officials.

The project “ensured safer access to the main span during construction while keeping the Ohio River’s central channel open for barge traffic,” reads the award program website. “The new Wellsburg Bridge now links the two communities, eliminating the lengthy commute.”

It also received acclaim at the Southeastern Association of State Highway Officials in August, picking up regional awards alongside the Grant Street Bridge in Bluefield and US 340 stabilization efforts in Jefferson County.

“This is an incredible day for both Wellsburg and Brilliant because we are finally opening a bridge connecting these two communities that is long overdue,” Gov. Jim Justice said during the September 2023 bridge opening.

“This bridge is going to make life better for everyone who travels through West Virginia’s Northern Panhandle,” he said.

Voting remains open until Oct. 29 at 11:59 p.m., and residents can vote every 24 hours. The winners will be announced during the annual AASHTO meeting, held in Philadelphia this year from Oct. 29 to Nov. 1.

The Wellsburg Bridge and other nominated projects “serve as the best of the best transportation projects completed by state departments of transportation across the country,” said AASHTO Executive Director Jim Tymon in a Sept. 10 press release.

To vote for a winner of the 2024 America’s Transportation Award, visit the award program’s website.

I-79 Reopens After Severe Acid Spill, Repaving Complete

Updated on Friday, Sept. 20, 2024 at 11 a.m.

All lanes of Interstate 79 South near the Goshen Road exit between Fairmont and Morgantown are back open following quick repair to damage caused by an acid spill.

A tractor-trailer carrying a strong acid overturned in a work zone near the Goshen Road Exit at about 1 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. No one was injured, but a large amount of acid was spilled on the roadway.

Following hazardous material crews cleaning up the acid, crews worked around the clock to dig up and repave about 500 feet of asphalt. The acid severely damaged the road. The road reopened at approximately 2:30 a.m., Friday, Sept. 20, 2024.

Original Story

A tractor-trailer overturned on Interstate 79 South between Monongalia and Marion counties, spilling strong acid onto the highway and halting traffic.

All lanes of traffic are currently closed near the I-79 Goshen Road exit, just south of Morgantown. The area will remain closed until Friday or Saturday, according to a Thursday press release from the West Virginia Department of Transportation (WVDOT).

The spill occurred around 1 p.m. Wednesday. No injuries have been reported, but crews are still cleaning up the hazardous material.

Earl Gaskins, who oversees the region as a local district manager for the West Virginia Division of Highways, said in the Thursday press release that the acid severely damaged the roadway.

Crews must dig up and repave 500 feet of asphalt along the southbound lanes, he said.

The WVDOT said the area will remain closed to traffic for 24 to 48 hours. For the time being, drivers will be detoured off the highway near the Goshen Road highway, then rerouted back onto I-79.

For live updates on the status of major West Virginia roadways, visit the WVDOT’s WV511 informational webpage.

Transportation Officials Send Water Tank Over 200 Miles To Help Tucker County Amid Drought

As a prolonged drought continues to threaten farms across West Virginia, state officials are getting creative to ensure that communities have enough water for the summer season.

This week, that meant supplying the Tucker County town of Thomas with a 5,000 gallon tank of non-potable water from Huntington — transporting it roughly 220 miles out of a city experiencing less severe conditions.

The West Virginia Department of Transportation (WVDOT) announced the completion of the effort on Friday, and said it came in response to Gov. Jim Justice’s July 26 state of emergency declaration over the drought for all 55 counties.

The United States Drought Monitor has classified the current dry spell in Thomas as an “extreme drought.” Tucker County is part of the eastern region of the state that has been hardest hit by the drought conditions.

Counties in the easternmost region of West Virginia have been hit hardest by an ongoing drought this summer.

*Map Credit: United States Drought Monitor*

High levels of iron in the town’s water supply have rendered current non-drinking water resources unusable, Thomas Mayor Jody Flanagan said in the Friday press release.

“This is the lowest our dam and reservoir have been in 60 years,” Flanagan said.

The water tank was trucked to Thomas by drivers from Charleston, and was placed at the town’s fire department for community access to use for washing, flushing toilets, etc., according to a Friday WVDOT press release. City officials have secured drinking water for to town through other sources. A representative for the City of Thomas confirmed that the city received the tank by Thursday afternoon.

“This demonstrates the teamwork and determination of the WVDOH employees across the state to serve our citizens,” said Secretary of Transportation Jimmy Wriston in the press release.

Free Poster Of W.Va. Covered Bridges Available Through Department Of Transportation

The West Virginia Department of Transportation (WVDOT) has created a free, digitally accessible poster depicting 17 different covered bridges around the state to raise awareness about the sites.

The Philippi Covered Bridge, which spans 286 feet across the Tygart River in Barbour County, takes the most prominent position in the center of the poster, the WVDOT said. The Civil War-era bridge, with its iconic double arches, is a local landmark and remains in use today as part of U.S. Route 250.

Covered bridges typically include wooden walls and a roof. But constant exposure to the elements means these sites require frequent upkeep, the WVDOT said in a press release Monday.

Many covered bridges around the Mountain State and the nation at large were first constructed in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, making them historic sites, too.

The WVDOT said it created the poster to offer a glimpse into West Virginia history and remind residents of the work that goes into preserving the centuries-old structures.

The poster also features the Carrollton Covered Bridge in Barbour County, the Staats Mill Covered Bridge in Jackson County and more than a dozen other covered bridges from around the state.

Residents can access and download the poster online at the WVDOT website.

W.Va. Receives $30 Million To Revitalize Coal Communities

This year, nearly $30 million in federal funding will go toward projects that revitalize West Virginia’s coalfield communities and repurpose abandoned mine lands across the state.

In an effort to repurpose abandoned mine lands, state officials have granted millions of dollars in federal funding to community development projects on former West Virginia coalfields.

The funding was secured in the latest round of the Abandoned Mine Land Economic Revitalization (AMLER) Program. Since 2016, the program has provided federal dollars to community and economic development projects that rehabilitate coalfields, as well as the towns surrounding them.

West Virginia has hundreds of abandoned coal mining sites, with an estimated 173,000 acres of land across the state abandoned before 1977 alone.

For 2024, West Virginia was granted just under $30 million through the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE), which oversees the program.

This year’s funding marks the most West Virginia has received since 2016, the first year of the program.

With OSMRE’s final approval still pending, West Virginia officials said that this year’s funding would be divided between 10 different economic development initiatives across the state.

Projects selected for funding by state officials this year include a cattle processing facility in Brooke County, a sports park in Marion County and a heritage center in Ohio County.

Announced Thursday, the following projects were tapped for AMLER funding this year by the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection, the West Virginia Department of Commerce, the West Virginia Department of Transportation and the Governor’s Office:

Chief Logan Resort and Recreation Center, Logan County: $6,800,000
West Virginia Farm Foods, Brooke County: $4,000,000
City of Thomas Water Improvement Project, Tucker County: $3,000,000
Cleanwater RU2 Process Project, Kanawha County: $2,950,000
Ashland Resort Tourism Park, McDowell County: $2,993,500
Liberty Station Lodge & Tavern, Mercer County: $2,421,968
Opal Smith Highwall and Roanoke Center Expansion, Lewis County: $2,406,739
Gravity Adventure Park, Kanawha County: $2,163,954
Wheeling Heritage Center, Ohio County: $2,011,172
Baxter VFD Sports Park, Marion County: $600,000

State Transportation Project Contracts Top Out Year At $1 Billion

The number could be even bigger if lawmakers reverse a change they made in 2016, Secretary Jimmy Wriston testified.

The West Virginia Department of Transportation reports an “unheard number” of projects under contract for the year.

As the year comes to a close, Transportation Secretary Jimmy Wriston told lawmakers his department has a billion dollars of projects under contract.

“That’s unheard of in Highways,” he said.

Still, Wriston told the Joint Oversight Commission on Transportation Tuesday, the number could be even bigger if lawmakers reverse a change they made in 2016.

Prior to then, Wriston said, a sales tax on road construction materials directly funded the department’s projects. But lawmakers diverted those revenues to the general fund.

“Just looking at that sales tax, you could see how much more we could be doing,” Wriston said.

Wriston estimated the revenues to be in the tens of millions.

Daniel Linville, R-Cabell, chair of the joint commission, told Wriston that restoring the sales tax revenues to the department is something “I’d personally like to see us correct there.”