Department of Transportation Story Archives - Page 2 of 6

Streetscape Construction Continues In Downtown Wheeling

U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg toured the Wheeling Streetscape project in July.

Construction on a project to renew downtown Wheeling’s streets and sidewalks continues.

The West Virginia Department of Transportation is installing drainage structures along Main and Market streets in Wheeling.

The construction requires pedestrian and traffic detours but with access to all businesses.

Crews still need to install sidewalks and trees and shrubs. They will replace traffic lights and eventually mill and pave the affected streets.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg toured the Wheeling Streetscape project in July. It received a $16 million grant from a federal discretionary infrastructure spending program called RAISE, or Rebuilding America’s Infrastructure With Sustainability and Equity.

The $32 million project broke ground last year and is scheduled to be completed by the summer of 2025.

State-Owned South Branch Valley Railroad Gains New Operator

Denver-based OmniTrax will operate and manage the South Branch Valley Railroad beginning on Dec. 1.

A new operator has been chosen for a state-owned shortline railroad in the Potomac Highlands.

Denver-based OmniTrax will operate and manage the South Branch Valley Railroad beginning on Dec. 1.

The South Branch Valley is a 52-mile railroad from Petersburg to Green Spring, where it interchanges with CSX.

The line has been owned by the West Virginia Department of Transportation since 1978. The railroad is headquartered in Moorefield.

The South Branch Valley moves freight traffic and runs the Potomac Eagle passenger trains.

OmniTrax also operates the Winchester and Western Railroad in West Virginia. The company has 24 additional railroad properties nationwide.

2 W.Va. Shortline Railroads Get Federal Funding For Upgrades

The Appalachian & Ohio Railroad and the Kanawha River Railroad will receive as much as $16 million and $19 million, respectively.

The U.S. Department of Transportation is giving two West Virginia shortline railroads money for improvements.

The Appalachian & Ohio Railroad and the Kanawha River Railroad will receive as much as $16 million and $19 million, respectively.

That’s from the Federal Railroad Administration’s Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvement Program, made possible by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021.

The two railroads will use the money to rehabilitate track, locomotives, bridges and tunnels.

The Appalachian & Ohio operates 158 miles of track between Grafton and Cowen and hauls primarily coal. It interchanges with CSX.

The Kanawha River Railroad operates 385 miles of track from Columbus, Ohio, to Elmore, West Virginia, and hauls coal, chemicals, cement, aggregates and metals. It interchanges with Norfolk Southern and CSX.

The two awards are part of USDOT’s $1.4 billion total investment for 70 projects in 35 states.

Cass Scenic Railroad Reopens 15 Miles Of Track Along Greenbrier River

A washed out bridge closed the line for almost 40 years following a flood in 1985.

With a blast of the whistle from Shay steam locomotive No. 5, the Cass Scenic Railroad rolled once again on the line from Cass to Durbin.

A washed out bridge closed the line for almost 40 years following a flood in 1985.

Secretary of Transportation Jimmy Wriston was on hand for the inaugural run across the new Trout Run bridge, which was built by his department.

“That’s what we do in this state,” he said. “When we have a tough job to do, we roll up our sleeves and do it. That’s what happened and that’s what this bridge represents.”

Cass can now run trains on the entire 15 miles of track along the Greenbrier River.

The Greenbrier Express will operate on Saturdays and Sundays starting this weekend and Wednesday through Sunday from Memorial Day to Labor Day.

The trains depart Cass at 10 a.m.

To book a ticket, visit mountainrailwv.com.

Capito Asks Why East Palestine Train Was Not Considered High Hazard

Officials at the scene made the decision to vent and burn five tank cars of vinyl chloride, creating a column of black smoke that darkened the sky over the community.

U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito asked witnesses in a hearing Wednesday about what kind of rail safety improvements are needed after last month’s fiery derailment in Ohio.

Capito, R-West Virginia, a member of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, asked why the Norfolk Southern train that derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, was not considered by federal definition to be of a higher level of hazard than other trains.

Officials at the scene made the decision to vent and burn five tank cars of vinyl chloride, creating a column of black smoke that darkened the sky over the community.

Capito asked Jennifer Homendy, the chairwoman of the National Transportation Safety Board, whether the definition of a high-hazard flammable train should be changed.

“Is that something you would consider that should be looked at as a safety improvement?” Capito asked.

“Yes, senator,” Homendy said.

The NTSB is investigating the derailment but has no regulatory authority. That kind of change would have to come from the U.S. Department of Transportation or Congress.

The definition was set by a Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration rule issued in May 2015 following multiple derailments of trains carrying crude oil and ethanol, including one in Mount Carbon, West Virginia, in February 2015.

Hal Greer Boulevard Project To Reshape Huntington’s Interstate Access Corridor

Gov. Jim Justice announced Friday morning a $13.5 million comprehensive upgrade of Huntington’s Hal Greer Boulevard, also known as 16th Street, all the way from Washington Boulevard to Third Avenue.

Transportation Secretary Jimmy Wriston said the project would be fast tracked, with a field office going up in January, building demolition in February and road work beginning in the spring of 2023.

“This one’s comprehensive,” Wriston said. “It has all the bells and whistles, pedestrian, bike path, new lighting, landscaping, you name it, this project’s got it.”

Huntington Mayor Steve Williams said the project was more than a decade in the making, with stakeholders from the Fairfield neighborhood to hospital and university presidents joining in a planning alliance.

Designs will highlight safety, accessibility, beauty and economic development for the main corridor that leads people from I-64, to Cabell-Huntington Hospital and to the downtown area and Marshall University.

“With all of the business development that is planned on Hal Greer Boulevard, in five years, anybody who’s coming through here right now will not recognize Hal Greer Boulevard,” Williams said. “It will be absolutely transformed.”

The project will also highlight a partnership with the Thundercloud “First Dig” Initiative, laying underground broadband fiber along the corridor, providing internet speeds that partners say will be 1000 times faster than what locals are experiencing now.