West Virginia Department of Highways Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Funding Granted For Berkeley Springs Bypass Road Completion

The funding was officially awarded to A.L.L. Construction Dec. 21, totaling nearly $35 million.

More funding from the state is going towards the completion of the Berkeley Springs Bypass in Morgan County.

The funding was officially awarded to A.L.L. Construction Dec. 21, totaling nearly $35 million.

The road’s construction is part of Gov. Jim Justice’s Roads to Prosperity program. The bypass is designed to divert traffic congestion on U.S. Route 522, which goes through Berkeley Springs. An initial $60 million in funding for the project was granted in 2020.

A 2020 release from Justice’s office says Route 522 sees 13,400 vehicles per day, with approximately 30 percent of those vehicles being trucks. The other purpose of the bypass is to make downtown Berkeley Springs safer for other drivers and pedestrians.

The project will see three-and-a-half miles of a four-lane highway completed in Morgan County from Winchester Grade Road south of Berkeley Springs to state Route 9. This round of funding will connect the northern section of the bypass with Route 522 north of the town, adding two bridges and a connecting road to War Memorial Hospital along the way.

The completed project will include three bridges, three at-grade intersections and a diamond interchange on Route 9.

Ice Storm Set To Hit Eastern Panhandle Wednesday Night

With the first ice storm of the season predicted to hit the eastern panhandle beginning the night of Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2022, West Virginia Department of Transportation (WVDOT) highway crews are gearing up to battle snow and ice.

“We’re already making arrangements for staffing,” said West Virginia Division of Highways (WVDOH) District 5 engineer Lee Thorne, P.E.

District 5 moved extra snowplow crews into the panhandle and began pre-treating roads with brine to make it harder for ice to stick and melt any ice that accumulates. With temperatures predicted to hover around freezing, Thorne expected pre-treating and salting to be effective during the storm.

The National Weather Service was predicting close to half an inch of ice in the higher elevations in the eastern panhandle.

WVDOH tactics are a little different when battling ice instead of snow.

“They won’t be doing much plowing,” Thorne said. “They’ll mostly be treating.”

WVDOT asks motorists to be careful in winter conditions and when sharing the road with snow removal and ice control vehicles such as plows and trucks.

Zach Murphy is a WVDOH Transportation Worker III in District 4, driving the plows in the winter. He said motorists should slow down to less than the speed limit.

“It is the same thing when dealing with a work zone – slow down and move over. Our trucks, when we are out treating and plowing, are moving work zones,” Murphy said.

Murphy also warns motorists of the dangers of following a salt truck too closely, resulting in decreased visibility for both parties.

“When you are following behind a truck, if you cannot see our mirrors, we cannot see you,” he said. “We may not know you are back there. If we must stop suddenly or turn around, back up to clear an intersection it could not be good.”

The WVDOH owns approximately 1,080 trucks mounted with snow-fighting equipment around the state.

Jeff Pifer, P.E., director of the WVDOH Equipment Division in Buckhannon, said motorists should realize a lot is going on within the truck for the driver including controlling functions during poor weather conditions, having visibility issues due to the weather, and the sheer difficulties of driving the large machine.

Pifer said if a driver is spreading material on the road, to give as much room as possible. If a motorist attempts to pass a truck, Pifer said to make sure the plow driver can see the motorist. When a plow is approaching from the opposite direction, pull over as far to the right as is safe.

“That stuff is coming out of the spreader and while it is supposed to drop straight down onto the road, it can out with velocity and can bounce. You can end up scratching your car and being peppered with it,” Pifer said.

“If you can stay back away from it, where it is not doing that, that’s a good rule of thumb.”

The safest option when winter weather is here is to stay home, Murphy said. He also suggested turning on headlights and taillights no matter the time of day.

“If you are going to be out traveling, be prepared,” Murphy said. “Leave the house 15 to 20 minutes early, make sure you have snow tires and slow down and drive accordingly.”

All roads maintained by the WVDOH fit into one of four priorities. The Interstate, Expressway, National Highway System, and all other United States and West Virginia routes are Priority 1 routes in an SRIC strategy.

Some Priority 1 routes also include high-traffic county routes. Priority 2 routes are all other school bus routes that are not considered Priority 1. Priority 3 routes are the remaining routes, not including park and forest routes. Priority 4 routes are park and forest routes.

Over the past two winter seasons, WVDOT crews have used an average of 250,000 tons of salt and 1.3 million gallons of de-icing liquid.

For the latest updates and information on travel conditions throughout West Virginia, visitwv.511.org.

Road Project at West Virginia Airport is Completed Early

West Virginia’s Yeager Airport says a paving project on the road leading to it has been completed ahead of schedule.

The airport said the project was completed Wednesday and caused minimal delay to airport patrons.

The airport’s news release said the Department of Highways reported the project’s total cost was $351,500.

Airport Director Terry Sayre says the project provided a big improvement for customers and enhances visitors’ first impressions of West Virginia.

Airport Road is a state highway and the main access road to Yeager Airport.

March 14, 1969: Governor Moore Fires Striking Highway Workers

On March 14, 1969, recently fired highway workers marched on the state capitol building in Charleston, protesting their abrupt dismissal by Governor Arch Moore three days earlier.

On March 3—11 days before the march on the capitol—more than 2,600 public road maintenance workers had walked off the job, demanding that the state recognize their union.

Governor Moore—only three months into his first term—fired the strikers, making an example of them to any other public employees who might be thinking about unionizing. Ultimately, 530 of the highway workers reclaimed their jobs, but more than 2,000 were dismissed permanently.

Despite Moore’s early stance against the public employees, his time in the governor’s office also benefited workers in some ways. He pushed to get hospital insurance for 61,000 state and county workers and to give $1,500 pay raises to public schoolteachers, along with somewhat smaller pay increases for other school staff.

Plus, he pressured the legislature to increase workers compensation benefits by as much as 75 percent and helped settle a national coal strike, putting about 39,000 West Virginia coal miners back to work.

State Highway Project Bribes Alleged

Federal prosecutors say four people conspired to steer $1.5 million of West Virginia highways project to a South Carolina business for bribes and kickbacks between 2008 and 2014.

According to prosecutors, 60-yaer-old Bruce Kenney III of Norfolk, Virginia, used his former state position to funnel structural inspection work to the Dennis Corp. of Columbia while covertly receiving nearly $200,000.

Thirty-eight-year-old Andrew Nichols of Lesage, West Virginia, a former Dennis manager, allegedly ensured the payments.

Fifty-two-year-old Mark Whitt of Winfield, West Virginia, owner of Bayliss and Ramey Inc., allegedly used its state contract to funnel work to Dennis and inflate invoices 20 percent.

Forty-year-old James Travis Miller of Hurricane, West Virginia, who left the state payroll to work for Dennis, allegedly delivered payments.

Calls to their attorneys were not immediately returned.

DOH Wants to Establish Fallen Worker Memorial

The West Virginia Division of Highways wants to establish a statewide fallen worker memorial to honor those who lost their lives while performing their jobs on the state’s roads.

DOH staff have been able to track work zone fatalities through the mid 1970’s and continue to research job related deaths at the state archives. The DOH is now reaching out to the public for any information that could help them honor highways workers who have died on the job.

For inclusion on the memorial, the deceased must have been an active full-time or part-time employee of the Division of Highways, Department of Highways or the State Road Commission. The death must have been from a work-related accident or injury. The names of the honorees will be enshrined on the memorial. This will include employees who died from1921 to the present. The memorial’s design will be selected from entries submitted by DOH employees.

This effort has been spearheaded by the District 3 staff in Parkersburg. After a fellow employee, Randy Bland, was fatally struck while performing his job in a work zone, a committee gathered to look at ways to honor his sacrifice. In doing so, they found that there is nothing, statewide, that honors the many men and women who have died on the job.The memorial will be a placed at the Williamstown I-77 Welcome Center.

Citizens can forward names, with a brief synopsis of the accidental death to the Department of Highways, District 3 in Parkersburg.

The DOH asks the public to forward names, a brief synopsis of their accidental death, and any available family contact information for any workers meeting the criteria. Information can be sent by email to Candice.M.Caviness@wv.gov or by mail:

Candice Caviness

DOH District Three

624 Depot Street

Parkersburg, West Virginia 26101-5127

All other questions concerning the memorial should be directed to Carrie Jones in the WVDOT Communications Office at (304) 558-0103.