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Corridor H will connect that area essentially to I79 in the long run. It's unfortunate that VA hasn't bought into the plan, but I suspect they want to channel development eastward rather than westward. This is a worthwhile endeavor, but it shouldn't have the priority that roads with obvious immediate need like our Morgantown roads have assigned to it. There is no place in our state that has the pressing needs for highway construction Morgantown has at this point in time.
Corridor H will connect that area essentially to I79 in the long run. It's unfortunate that VA hasn't bought into the plan, but I suspect they want to channel development eastward rather than westward. This is a worthwhile endeavor, but it shouldn't have the priority that roads with obvious immediate need like our Morgantown roads have assigned to it. There is no place in our state that has the pressing needs for highway construction Morgantown has at this point in time.
That is exactly why Virginia wont ever build the road even if WV does.
Also, Charleston just doesnt care about Morgantown. They love our tax base and business we bring into the state, but when it comes to giving we seem to invisible. Too bad that is not the case when it comes to taking. People in Charleston are acting like the 5 miles they built on the expressway is some kinda big deal and we should be groveling our appreciation to them. It is just a small first step.
Corridor H will connect that area essentially to I79 in the long run. It's unfortunate that VA hasn't bought into the plan, but I suspect they want to channel development eastward rather than westward. This is a worthwhile endeavor, but it shouldn't have the priority that roads with obvious immediate need like our Morgantown roads have assigned to it. There is no place in our state that has the pressing needs for highway construction Morgantown has at this point in time.
Completing Corridor H will benefit NC WV as well as eastern WV, by allowing faster shipment to more ports on the seaboard. Lowering shipping costs, and opening the market up globally. The economy of the 21st century is not a local, regional or national economy.. it's global.
Morgantown should look into upgrading, modernizing, and expanding the PRT system. It's an ingenious device that is being under utilized and needs modernized and brought into the 21st century to deal with not only Morgantown's student population but the general population. There are so many grants out there for improving mass transit... Building roads is not always the answer. Bike lanes should be on every major street as well!
Completing Corridor H will benefit NC WV as well as eastern WV, by allowing faster shipment to more ports on the seaboard. Lowering shipping costs, and opening the market up globally. The economy of the 21st century is not a local, regional or national economy.. it's global.
Morgantown should look into upgrading, modernizing, and expanding the PRT system. It's an ingenious device that is being under utilized and needs modernized and brought into the 21st century to deal with not only Morgantown's student population but the general population. There are so many grants out there for improving mass transit... Building roads is not always the answer. Bike lanes should be on every major street as well!
The PRT is insanely expensive to just keep it maintained. Without federal or state funding it is not going to expand, which is a pity because I love it. Bike lanes in certain neighborhoods are a realistic goal for Morgantown.
I live in Fayette County. The MFE was the only major road project in WV that I kept close tabs on since it makes Fayette County more attractive to economic development. Now, forgive me if I am wrong, but it seems that Corridor H and the Coalfields Expressway are roads that start nowhere, go nowhere, and end nowhere. Again, I don't keep up with those projects much, but last I heard, the Coalfields Expressway dead ends in the middle of nowhere (only local traffic can use the few miles that are open), and Corridor H will have no connection outside of West Virginia (Virginia has signaled that they have no intention to connect Corridor H to Interstates 81 or 64).
As a side note, I heard that there were plans to build an expressway on the northern side of Morgantown. It was supposed to be called the West Run Expressway, I believe. Wonder what's going on with that project?
It is literally a matter of 9-10 miles on a two lane road from the WV/VA state line to connect with I-81 and the junction with I-66. Motorists will see the benefits of using a modern 4 lane divided highway through the WV mountains instead of using two lane dangerous highways for 99% of the trip, and dealing with the two lane road that is already built in VA..US 48.
Listening to the b/s that it is a road to no where is nothing more than FOX news trying to rile up the rest of the country and convince them that their money is being wasted... When in all reality it will benefit millions of people in the coming years both through easier travel from WV to DC, and essentially up the east coast via 81. Not to mention the economic benefits to WV will be monumental.
I remember watching watching a clip from Fox a few years ago and they were video taping outside of Elkins where Corridor H ends at Kerns and there is a bridge crossing a road and then the Corridor ends.. and they're acting like they just discovered a huge scandal... A ROAD TO NO WHERE!! AS YOU SEEEEE, IT ENDS RIGHT BEFORE THIS MOUNTAIN!!! *GASP*
I remember thinking... Wow, such ignorance you bimbo... Of course its a road to nowhere.. ITS NOT FINISHED... It's been opened in sections as soon as they were finished to provide immediately safer traveling routes and to drive local economies.
Corridor H got a funding boost from the Obama spending plan because a section (Davis to Mt. Storm) was "shovel ready". All the design work, environmental approvals, etc. were in place.
Kerins to Parsons and Parsons to Davis are likely to be a while... a long while. I saw on the WVDOH web site yesterday that they hope to have everything completed by 2035.
To move back to the MFE discussion... it seems to me as if the pavement on the WV side is rather shoddy (rippled asphalt, some bumps already), especially compared to the PA side, which is smooth concrete. Has anybody else noticed that, or is it my imagination?
Completing Corridor H will benefit NC WV as well as eastern WV, by allowing faster shipment to more ports on the seaboard. Lowering shipping costs, and opening the market up globally. The economy of the 21st century is not a local, regional or national economy.. it's global.
Morgantown should look into upgrading, modernizing, and expanding the PRT system. It's an ingenious device that is being under utilized and needs modernized and brought into the 21st century to deal with not only Morgantown's student population but the general population. There are so many grants out there for improving mass transit... Building roads is not always the answer. Bike lanes should be on every major street as well!
We have much more extensive use of our public transit system here (Mountain Line and PRT) than any other place in the state but it isn't enough to make up for the pathetic support we get from the state in terms of roads. We are already too "global". It is that notion which causes our workers to have to compete with $8 per day labor countries in a system that benefits only the super rich elitists, who with their control of the media, higher education, and government have managed to brainwash everyone into thinking it is somehow a good thing that their jobs and prosperity are being sacrificed to make life better for some character in India.
I agree that H is a good thing for NCWV, but in terms of industrial development the only thing it will accomplish unless the political climate changes is it will make it easier to ship Chinese made crap to destinations along the way.
Being a lifelong resident of the Pittsburgh METRO area/SWPA, I have been interested for a few decades now, in new highway projects. Since my teens, I have experienced each the long awaited completion of I-279/579, the airport EXPRESSWAY & toll sections of BEAVER valley EXPRESSWAY/I-376 & have attended numerous public meetings, observed & have photoed construction & openings of what exists thus far, regarding the Mon Fayette EXPRESSWAY (PA TURNPIKE 43) & SOUTHERN BELTWAY (PA TURNPIKE 576/FUTURE I-576)! In a medium sized METRO area, where some parts of the region, are easily accessible to the interstate/Parkway/EXPRESSWAY network, yet many others STILL are rather landlocked, the completion of the PA 51 to I-376 Mon FAY & SB I-79 to Mon FAY, are essential! And unlike many similar sized cities that have a complete loop beltway, Pittsburgh doesn't have an "actual 360°, same interstate numbered beltway!" But WILL have something that will better serve as a Pittsburgh BELTWAY, by incorporating sections of the SB & MFX, with parts of I-376, I-76 PA TPK & I-79! Sure large pieces will be toll roads, unlike say Columbus Ohio's free I-270 & Cincinnati's I-275! BUT THE PITTSBURGH METRO NEEDS WHAT IT CAN TAKE, IN THE FORM OF THE SB & MFX, TO BETTER & MORE UNIFORMALLY, CONNECT THE REGION!
WHEN MANY CITIES WERE PLANNING THEIR EXPRESSWAY SYSTEMS IN THE SECOND HALF OF THE 20TH CENTURY, MOST HAVE GENERALLY COMPLETED A SUFFICIENT NETWORK, MAKING MOST LOCATIONS EASILY ACCESSIBLE! EVERY CITY HAS HAD SOME HIGHWAY REVOLTS/CANCELLED/PARTIALLY BUILT EXPRESSWAYS! BUT PITTSBURGH IS PERHAPS NOTORIOUS, AS THE US CITY WITH THE MOST CANCELLED EXPRESSWAYS! OF COURSE, NOT ALL COULD BE BUILT, DUE TO HIGH COSTS, TOPOGRAPHICAL CHALLENGES, CONCERN OF SOME HISTORICAL COMMUNITIES BEING DRASTICALLY ALTERED! BUT EVEN IF A FEW HAD BEEN CONSTRUCTED- WHETHER THOROUGHLY, OR AS FEEDERS, THEY WOULD HAVE PROVIDED SOME RELIEF TO LOCAL ROADS, THAT HAVE SIMPLY BEEN OVERBURDENED, DUE TO CAPACITY LIMITATIONS & A LACK OF A PARALLEL/NEARBY, LIMITED ACCESS HIGHWAY! (PA 51 IN SOUTH HILLS, WITHOUT A SOUTH HILLS EXPRESSWAY/PARKWAY SOUTH, IS A PRIME EXAMPLE!
OF COURSE, THE MON FAYETTE & SOUTHERN BELTWAY, ARE MORE IN THE EASTERN SOUTH HILLS/MON VALLEY & ALONG THE ALLEGHENY/WASHINGTON COUNTY LINE. SO THE MFX IS SOMEWHAT TOO FAR EAST, TO BE A "PARKWAY SOUTH" & SB WON'T EXACTLY BE GOING THRU THE MIDDLE OF THE SOUTH HILLS! BUT BOTH WILL AT LEAST PROVIDE "BACK DOORS", SO TO SPEAK, TO PLACES LIKE BETHEL PARK, FINLEYVILLE, SOUTH PARK, PLEASANT HILLS, ETC, BYPASSING & LONGER ROUTES! YET QUICKER & FREE FOLLOWING ALTERNATIVES, TO TAKING 2-3 LANE & TRAFFIC LIGHT LOADED PA 88 & 4-6 LANE, BUT SIGNAL BURDENED PA 51! AND WITH SB & MFX HAVING LIKELY A 65 MPH (55 MPH IN "URBANIZED AREAS"), A DRIVE FROM I-79 IN CECIL/SOUTH FAYETTE, TO PA TPK 43 AT FINLEYVILLE, WILL BE A QUICK 10 MINUTE DRIVE VS THE 20 MINUTES IT TAKES, JUST TO DRIVE FROM US 19 TO FINLEYVILLE, VIA 2-LANE/RURAL WATERDAM/THOMAS/VENETIA ROADS! LIVING IN THE "WESTERN" SOUTH HILLS (DORMONT/MTL/CASTLE SHANNON) & WANTING TO REACH FINLEYVILLE OR WEST MIFFLIN, I WOULD GLADLY DRIVE THE 15 MINUTES, OVER TO BRIDGEVILLE/COLLIER, GET ON 79 SOUTH, & ABOUT 5 MINUTES LATER, ONTO 576 EAST & 43 NORTH, JUST TO AVOID DEALING WITH THE TWISTY, SLOW MOVING, 2-LANE LOCAL ROADS & BUSY 88 & 51!
The Mon Fayette EXPRESSWAY & Southern BELTWAY, have been built/are being designed/constructed to interstate highway standards! The SB is designated PA TPK 576 (with a future designation to Interstate 576). However, the Mon Fayette, since it's early days, has been designated PA TPK 43! Which is OK as "a temporary" toll state route number! (as it was used before in other parts of PA, with the Schuylkill Expwy, pre-I-76)! But 43 would NOT work as an interstate, as I-43 is well off the grid, in Illinois/WISCONSIN! So a logical interstate number choice for the MFX, would be a 3-digit of I-70! Pittsburgh METRO has 3-digit ROUTES from I-76 (I-376 & eventually I-576) & I-79 (I-279 & I-579)! But there are no I-70 spurs/bypasses into & around PITTSBURGH! And since I-70 is MUCH CLOSER TO PITTSBURGH & IS THE MUCH OLDER & CROSS COUNTRY INTERSTATE, THAN I-68 IS & THE MFX IS AN ACTUAL, DUE NORTH-SOUTH, THRU GENERALLY THE MIDDLE OF THE SOUTHERN SUBURBS! I-79 IS TO THE SOUTHWEST & I-76 IS TO THE SOUTHEAST!
SO MY OPINION ON AN I-x70 DESIGNATION, WOULD BE INTERSTATE 870! I SAY THIS, BECAUSE SINCE THE WESTERN LEG TO PGH VIA BRADDOCK ETC HAS BEEN DROPPED & GOING TO 376 AT MONROEVILLE (ESSENTIALLY BYPASSING & NOT GOING INTO THE CITY - WHERE SAY AN I-770 COULDA BEEN A CHOICE), I-870 WOULD FOLLOW THE FIRST DIGIT, EVEN NUMBERED INTERSTATE GUIDELINES FOR BELTWAYS, THRU HIGHWAYS & BYPASSES! FURTHERMORE, I-870 WOULD FOLLOW THE ENTIRE MFX FROM I-68 TO I-376 (EAST SUBURBS) - INCLUDING THE US119/US40 UNIONTOWN BYPASS! AND I-870 WOULD MULTIPLEX WITH I-576 FROM FINLEYVILLE TO MONROEVILLE (LIKE CLEVELAND'S I-480/I-271)!
INTERSTATE 870 WOULD BE AN AS YET TO BE USED, INTERSTATE DESIGNATION (FAR ENOUGH REMOVED FROM A POSSIBLE I-870 IN ST LOUIS AREA) &
ALSO AVOID THE POTENTIAL CONFUSION, OF HAVING I-470 BYPASSING WHEELING WV, JUST 50 MILES TO THE WEST, I-270 BEING BOTH COLUMBUS BELTWAY & INTO DC/BALTIMORE AREA (ABOUT EQUIDISTANT IN OPPOSITE DIRECTIONS FROM MFX) & I-670 BEING A THRU/X-CITY COLUMBUS HWY! LASTLY, I-870 WOULD MAKE THE MFX MORE ATTRACTIVE TO BUSINESS, LEISURE & LOCAL MOTORISTS, AS AN INTERSTATE NUMBER WOULD GUARANTEE THAT THE HIGHWAY IS A TOTALLY LIMITED ACCESS EXPRESSWAY & NOT SOME STATE OR US ROUTE, WITH A MIX OF HIGHWAY, LOCAL, COMMERCIAL & AT-GRADE ROAD! I-870 SHOULD DEFINITELY BE LOOKED INTO FOR THE MFX!
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Mon Fayette EXPRESSWAY & Southern BELTWAY entire completion
