WV Department of Transportation Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

New Bridge Connecting Nitro To St. Albans Set To Open

A new bridge connecting Nitro and St. Albans through Interstate 64 is opening Friday.

The Nitro World War I Memorial Bridge construction is part of a $224 million project widening Interstate 64 through the Route 35 interchange in Putnam County. The project widens nearly four miles of the interstate to six lanes of traffic, expanding to eight lanes at the Nitro and St. Albans interchanges.

It’s part of the state’s Roads to Prosperity infrastructure program, which recently celebrated its five year anniversary. Officials broke ground on construction for this particular project in April of last year.

It’s set to move exit traffic from St. Albans starting Friday, with westbound traffic following the next day. Eastbound traffic is also scheduled to be switched from the Donald M. Legg Memorial Bridge to the new bridge within the next two weeks.

The Donald M. Legg Memorial Bridge is also scheduled to be replaced, with the existing bridge scheduled to be demolished once eastbound traffic is fully switched.

A grand opening ceremony for the new bridge over the Kanawha River is set to be live streamed on YouTube, Twitter and Facebook Friday, Oct. 28 at 2:30 p.m.

As of when construction began in 2021, the entire I-64 widening project is slated to be completed in 2024.

W.Va. Transportation Secretary Testifies Before U.S. Senate Committee

West Virginia’s Transportation Secretary Jimmy Wriston testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works Wednesday on the state’s progress and problems with the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

Wriston was invited to testify before the committee by U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., ranking minority member of the committee. Others invited to testify before the committee included Delaware Transportation Secretary Nicole Majeski; Tucson, Arizona Mayor Regina Romero; and Jim Tymon, executive director of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials.

The Committee on Environment and Public Works convened Wednesday’s hearing to seek local input into implementation of the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, signed by President Joe Biden in November 2021. The law will put $550 billion into new transportation, infrastructure and broadband projects all over the United States.

Wriston began his testimony by paraphrasing the Infrastructure Act’s goal.

“The mission is quite clear,” Wriston said. “We want to deliver a safe, efficient transportation system while addressing resiliency, equity, and environmental concerns. These are things we can do. These are things we can do.”

Wriston noted West Virginia has the nation’s 6th largest highway system. He praised the bridge program, and said the federal formula will insure all of the state’s 7,100 or so bridges are safe to cross.

”We’re going to be able to operate within the guidelines of this bridge program,” Wriston said. “We can take care of all the bridges that are rated poor that are off system and do all in this timeframe.”

But while supporting the goals and vision behind the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, Wriston predicted failure of the discretionary portions of the act, meaning inconsistent and poorly coordinated federal management. Wriston said discretionary programs can create problems for rural states like West Virginia with large highway systems, including unpredictable funding levels, varying abilities of states to come up with matching funds and having to wait until money is actually awarded to start making serious plans.

Wriston noted it’s taken decades to complete the Corridor H project, largely due to poorly coordinated federal management and he worries that will continue.

“We have worked diligently for years and years on Corridor H and this is why it’s taking decades to finish this job. We need consistent guidance, we need to do the front end work on the front end and take care of these issues,” Wriston said. “We’re going to fail if we don’t make sure that we’re all on the same page, get the same guidelines together and communicate honestly and openly. We depend on these federal agencies, we look at them not only as partners, but advocates for the state.”

Capito asked Wriston about greenhouse gas performance measures. Wriston explained why the flexibility that’s ingrained in the Act’s formula programs is so important to a rural, mountainous state like West Virginia in reducing greenhouse gasses.

“Transportation is not opposed to working toward reducing our greenhouse gas emissions. You gave me the flexibility to take a holistic approach to look at the overall environmental concerns and put together comprehensive plans to address them,” Wriston said. “Yes, we’re going to have to use a little innovation and we’re going to have to use some technology to deliver these things.”

Wriston urged members of the Committee on Environment and Public Works to help cut through the red tape and make sure the provisions of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act are implemented efficiently and with proper guidance.

W.Va. Electric Vehicle Charging Station Plan Revealed

All 50 states will work under the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) funding and deployment plan. West Virginia will receive $47.5 million over five years to complete two phases to build out charging stations and help set up related businesses and jobs.

Last Thursday, the West Virginia Department of Transportation (WVDOT) submitted its preliminary plan of proposed locations of electric vehicle (EV) charging stations to the federal government.

Phase 1 establishes federally required charging stations on what are being dubbed the nation’s Alternative Fuel Corridors (AFCs). Those include West Virginia Interstates 64,77,79, 70, 68 and 81. The plan is to build EV charging stations every 50 miles along the AFCs. Construction is expected to begin in spring of 2023 and be completed in two years. Phase one is designed to assist electric vehicle owners in interstate and regional travel.

As of June of 2022, West Virginia had 14 stations and 28 individual EV ports publicly accessible; these numbers exclude Tesla EV ports because the Tesla network is currently available only to Tesla owners. Overall, the average number of EV ports per station in the state is two. The minimum number of NEVI-program required ports per station along the AFCs is four.

To meet the station spacing requirements of NEVI, stations must have at least four 150KW chargers. Additionally, the stations need to be within one mile of an electric AFC and stations must be spaced no more than 50 miles. Based on these requirements, it is estimated that West Virginia will need at least 12 NEVI-compliant stations.

West Virginia’s Phase 2 comes after the requirements of NEVI’s Phase 1 are met. Phase 2 will focus on community-based charging, and expanding local access to electric vehicle charging. For the entire five-year program, disadvantaged communities and rural areas of the state will be prioritized for EV charging infrastructure. The Justice40 Initiative was created to deliver 40 percent of overall benefits of federal investments in climate and clean energy, including sustainable transportation, to disadvantaged communities. Justice40 has a myriad of programs that support this initiative, one of which is the NEVI program. As prioritized both in NEVI guidelines and Justice40, the plan prioritizes charging infrastructure that serves lower-income and disadvantaged communities.

WVDOT has said it will commit at least 40 percent of NEVI program investments to disadvantaged communities. Education is a key component of EV deployment and state transportation leaders say West Virginia’s plan ensures equitable and community based decision-making processes to ensure that chargers are installed to meet the needs of communities that have historically been under-funded and under-invested.

A portion of the West Virginia NEVI program will focus on jobs, skills training, as well as business development investments to develop and train local workers in Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment (EVSE) construction and maintenance.

In 2020, West Virginia ranked number 44 of the 50 states for EV sales. In 2020, electric vehicles sales, including battery electric vehicles (BEV) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV) accounted for less than 1 percent of all car sales in the state.

For stations funded as part of Phase 1, the typical standards will be:

• 150-350kW Max Power

• Access to 3 phase 480-volt power (typically 1000 amps, 660 kva)

• Site must include a minimum of four 150kw DCFC ports with Combined Charging System ports (three parking spaces for general use and one parking space with ADA-compliant access)

Additional standards for all stations will include:

• 45-minute charging time limit

• Idle fee after charging is complete/time limit is exceeded

• Safety lighting, restrooms, ADA accessibility

• Standard bollards and charger protection

• Open to the public and accessible 24/7 to both chargers and amenities

• Plug to Charge preferred (payment handles by vehicle when plugging in) but payments by phone/app/card will also be required

• Adequate signage to charger stations

• Spaces marked EV only

• Signs recommending charging to 80 percent

• Vendor required to make usage data per location available to WVDOT as needed

• Signage directing users to charging locations from the AFCs

• Real-time data sharing, including location, charger status, and fees available online.

For stations funded as part of Phase 2, the typical standards will be:

• J1772 Connector (industry standard)

• 6.6kW-19.2kW Max Power for Level II chargers

• 50kW-350kW Max Power for Level III chargers

• Same requirements for number of chargers, signage, markings, payment options, and data sharing as Phase 1

WVDOT says it will focus on meeting the NEVI program requirements and ask for exceptions when deviations are needed to meet unique site, geographic, cost, or other technical conditions

The program’s purpose is to expand access to electric vehicle charging by: • Accelerating equitable adoption of EVs, including for those who cannot reliably charge at home.

• Reducing transportation-related greenhouse gas emissions and help put the U.S. on a path to net-zero emissions by no later than 2050.

• Positioning U.S. industries to lead global transportation electrification efforts and help create family-sustaining union jobs that cannot be outsourced.

Additionally, the West Virginia legislature passed House Bill 4797 in June of 2022. It directs the West Virginia Department of Transportation (WVDOT) to create the EV Infrastructure Development Plan for the State. The plan states:

“…shall take a holistic approach, considering the future charging infrastructure needs of school systems, public transportation, counties and municipalities, and other public and private users.”