West Virginia Department of Transportation Story Archives

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

Speeding In A Work Zone Could Cost You

With the number of highway and bridge construction projects accelerating, WVDOT wants to get the message across to drivers: speeding in work zones will not be tolerated.

Drivers who fail to obey the speeding laws in West Virginia, could face hefty penalties.

In 2022, the West Virginia Department of Transportation (WVDOT) recorded 800 crashes in work zones across the state that killed eight people and left 276 injured.

With the number of highway and bridge construction projects accelerating, WVDOT wants to get the message across to drivers: speeding in work zones will not be tolerated.

On the first day of enforcement of stepped up patrols this week, along a five mile stretch of I-64 between the Huntington Mall and 29th Street in Huntington, police stopped 120 drivers violating the speed limit and other infractions.

Extra police patrols will also be enforcing the speed limit in work zones along the I-64 route between Charleston and Huntington.

On Wednesday, Gov. Jim Justice used his weekly briefing to urge drivers to slow down.

“We are adding extra police patrols,” Justice said. “And we’re going to target speeders, we’re gonna write tickets and it’s probably going to be a bad day for a lot of people, but we’ve got to slow down going through the worksite and so please take heed, show some consideration.”

The governor talked about his Roads to Prosperity initiative, pointing out that West Virginia is attracting more visitors who are noticing improvements in the state’s highways. He said that includes maintenance in high risk work zones where a lot of people go to work each day.

“So please heed this, we need your consideration,” Justice said. “We’ve got these good people coming to work every day, and they deserve, absolutely, the right to be going home every day, too.”

WVDOT said it will post more signage and speed monitors in work zones where speeding violations can result in $200 in fines and up to 20 days in jail for anyone caught driving 15 miles above the posted speed limit.

Meanwhile, anyone caught violating West Virginia’s distracted driving laws faces fines ranging from $100 to $300 plus court costs and demerit points being applied to their license.

W.Va. Transportation Department Hiring Trainees, Inspectors

The openings are for entry-level transportation engineering technician trainees and bridge inspectors, the department said in a news release.

The West Virginia Department of Transportation is taking applications for workers in Marshall County through Oct. 8.

The openings are for entry-level transportation engineering technician trainees and bridge inspectors, the department said in a news release.

Marshall County will host a hiring event from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Oct. 18 at Marshall County headquarters in Moundsville.

The engineering technician trainee program combines online training courses and field experience and offers academic credit while working full time.

Bridge safety inspectors visit and inspect the state’s bridges to plan maintenance, repairs and other work.

Applicants should apply online at the WVDOT Careers page. That will be followed by an email test, and applicants who pass the test should bring the email notification to the hiring event.

Work Continuing On New W.Va. Bridge On I-64

Work continues this week on a new Interstate 64 bridge in West Virginia, the state Department of Transportation said.

Contractors will continue hoisting bridge girders into place over West Virginia Highway 817. They began the work last Monday, hoisting one girder from a barge in the Kanawha River and another from the western shore and bolting them together in midair, the department said.

The girders will be lifted above Highway 817, and traffic will be disrupted at times during the week.

The new Donald M. Legg Memorial Bridge carries I-64 over the Kanawha River between the Nitro and St. Albans interchanges.

The $244.4 million project will widen 3.8 miles of the road to six lanes. Between Nitro and St. Albans, the road will be widened to eight lanes.

The plan is to build a second bridge north of the existing bridge and eventually move westbound traffic to the new bridge and use the existing bridge for eastbound traffic, the department said.

The new bridge is expected to be completed in the summer of 2024.

Wriston Appointed Acting W.Va. Highways Commissioner

Jimmy Wriston has been appointed acting West Virginia highways commissioner.

Gov. Jim Justice announced Wriston’s appointment Tuesday. Wriston also will serve as deputy transportation secretary.

Wriston has spent the past 12 years as the department’s chief transportation engineer and special program manager.

Earlier this month Justice fired state transportation secretary and highways commissioner Tom Smith, saying he wanted a new direction for the department.

The governor is accelerating secondary road repairs and maintenance. Last week he ordered Division of Highways district managers to compile lists of secondary roads in most need of repair. He also asked them to suggest projects that need continuous “aggressive” maintenance.

Groundbreaking Held for Corridor H Section in West Virginia

State officials have hailed the start of construction on a new stretch of the four-lane Corridor H highway in West Virginia.

Gov. Jim Justice and state Transportation Secretary Tom Smith attended the groundbreaking Thursday for the 7.5-mile section that will stretch from the Randolph County community of Kerens to Parsons.

Justice also asked for support of a road bond referendum scheduled for Oct. 7. Justice says “there is no vote any bigger than this vote” and “no highway in this state that’s as important as that highway right there.”

Corridor H begins at the intersection of Interstate 79 and U.S. Route 33 near Weston. It would end at the junction of Interstates 81 and 66 in Front Royal, Virginia.

The referendum would issue bonds to support about $3 billion to repair and rebuild highways and bridges.