Published: November 07, 2009 06:45 pm      

Executive director: King Coal Highway bridge ‘is finished’

BLUEFIELD — Construction on the new $16.2 million King Coal Highway bridge project in Bluefield is complete.

“The bridge is finished,” King Coal Highway Executive Director Mike Mitchem said. “They’ve just got the paving to do now (below the bridge) on Route 19. But it is finished.”

Construction on the bridge began about three years ago. The twin interstate bridges span about 160 feet above Route 19 taking the King Coal Highway from the K.A. Ammar Interchange in Bluefield toward Stoney Ridge.

“This is just the next step on traveling toward Bluewell, Montcalm, Matoaka and McDowell County,” Mitchem said. “We are very pleased that this bridge has been finished.”

However, before the King Coal Highway can reach Bluewell or Matoaka, it must first reach the Mercer County Airport and Route 123. The search for federal funding to keep the highway under construction continues.

U.S. Rep. Nick Rahall, D-W.Va., has requested $60 million in the new 2010 federal highway transportation bill to allow for a continuation of the local Interstate 73/74 corridor construction to Route 123 and the airport.

Mitchem said local officials also are still hoping to receive some funding for the King Coal Highway from the second pool of federal stimulus transportation dollars

“I spoke with Commissioner (Paul) Mattox, and he said it would probably be February before we hear (about the stimulus dollars),” Mitchem said. “We just appreciate all of the work of our congressional delegation, including Sen. Byrd, Congressman Rahall and Sen. Byrd.”

The King Coal Highway Authority was created by the state Legislature in 1999 to promote and advance the construction of the local I-73 corridor through McDowell, Mercer, Mingo, Wyoming and Wayne counties along the currently existing U.S. Route 52, according to the King Coal Highway website.

The King Coal Highway is proposed to extend from Bluefield to Williamson, and is designated as a high priority corridor in the National Highway System.

Mitchem said work on the Mingo County segment of the King Coal Highway also continues. The road bed is being constructed through the extraction of coal in the area by private mining companies. Mitchem said a paving contract is scheduled to be awarded this month for a 12 mile section of the roadway in Mingo County.

When completed at some point in the future, the King Coal Highway will travel 95 miles through Mingo, Wayne, Wyoming, McDowell and Mercer counties with the Tolsia segment from Williamson to Huntington extending another 55 miles. It will interchange with the Coalfields Expressway in Welch near the Indian Ridge Industrial Park and the site of the new federal prison. The King Coal and Tolsia Highways represent the West Virginia corridors of Interstate 73/74.

— Contact Charles Owens at cowens@bdtonline.com