Published: June 17, 2008 08:57 pm      

Parkway breaks ground

GHENT — A dream 22 years in the making took a giant step toward reality Tuesday with the long-awaited groundbreaking on the new Shawnee Parkway.

The scenic roadway will extend 22 miles from Ghent in Raleigh County to the mountaintop ridges of Mercer County before it ultimately connects with the King Coal Highway near Crumpler in McDowell County. The road began as a vision in 1986 by Bill Harvey, a retired coal miner from Spanishburg, who was joined by several other local residents in fighting for the scenic corridor, including William Sanders of Princeton.

Sanders and Harvey joined Gov. Joe Manchin, and officials from Mercer, McDowell and Raleigh counties, in breaking ground Tuesday on the first 1.22 miles of the roadway near the border of Mercer and Raleigh counties in the Ghent community.

“I am told this will be one of the most scenic highways east of the Mississippi when it is completed,” Manchin said. “So it is something to be proud of.”

“Great, great, great,” Harvey said of his reaction to the long-awaited project groundbreaking. Both Harvey and Sanders were recognized by Manchin for their founding efforts on the highway.

Sanders said officials didn’t know at the time that the highway would take 22 years to become a reality.

“It’s been a long time,” Sanders said. ‘But roads are not built overnight. I know with the turnpike it took a couple of generations to get it to where it is today.”

Manchin said the road will provide an important link to Raleigh, Mercer and McDowell counties.

“We stand here today with a bold idea of kind of linking up some of our most challenged counties,” Manchin said. “Infrastructure is something we must continue to work on.”

The first $5 million segment of the roadway could be completed as early as this winter, Dave Parkulo, coordinator of the Shawnee Parkway Authority, said. Design work has already been completed on a second segment that extends the parkway into Mercer County. However, additional federal and state dollars are still needed before work can begin on the second segment of the roadway.

The total project cost is estimated at $293 million. Parkulo said U.S. Sen. Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va., and U.S. Rep. Nick Rahall, D-W.Va., played a key role in securing the initial $5 million federal funding award for the project. The state matched the remaining 20 percent.

Parkulo said the Shawnee Parkway is considered to be an important link to the King Coal Highway and the Coalfields Expressway. Parkulo said the new roadway also will help to promote tourism and economic development in southern West Virginia.

“We are just hoping we can inch along like our other roads in the southern part of the state, including the King Coal Highway and the Coalfields Expressway,” Parkulo said. “We just want to get our piece of the pie.”

Construction on the first phase of the Shawnee Parkway is already underway, and about 16 percent complete, state Highway Engineer Marvin Murphy said.

The Shawnee Parkway will connect with the King Coal Highway near Crumpler and Ashland in McDowell County, King Coal Highway Authority Executive Director Mike Mitchem said.

“It will give them access to the Beckley area,” Mitchem said. “It will also help right there at Ashland. It’s next to the new KOA campground.”

Any road that will provide new access to McDowell County is welcomed, Jim Stafford, mayor of Iaeger, said.

“Someday when this great scenic highway is built it will be beautiful and people will be able to travel it to see all of our area,” Mercer County Commission President Joe Coburn said. “It’s going to be great. It will open up two or three counties.”

Manchin also recognized the Princeton Times Tuesday for helping to select the original name of the roadway several years ago.

The new road seeks to improve emergency response times in the three counties, and to promote new tourism and economic development across the region. It is envisioned as a scenic roadway traversing high ridges and picturesque mountains.

— Contact Charles Owens at cowens@bdtonline.com