After years of uncertainty, plans to build the last remaining four-lane section of U.S. 35 are under way.
Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin and U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., will be among elected officials attending a groundbreaking ceremony at 2 p.m. today to commend the 14.6-mile grade and drain project, marking the completion of the highway's expansion. Construction of the four-lane road would begin along the existing U.S. 35 near W.Va. 869 at the Buffalo Bridge and extend north into Mason County, ending near County Route 40. The new route will run about a quarter-mile west of W.Va. 817, according to Brent Walker, communications specialist with the West Virginia Department of Transportation.
A press release from the Division of Highways announced in June that Lexington, Kentucky-based Bizzack Construction LLC was the selected contractor for the project, with a winning bid of $174.5 million.
Putnam County Commissioner Andy Skidmore expressed support for the project at Tuesday's commission meeting.
"It will allow more development to come into Putnam and this area," Skidmore said, noting the placement of the Putnam Business Park in Fraziers Bottom, which is situated along an upgraded section of U.S. 35. "As you create jobs and create opportunities, maybe we'll see a residential impact as well."
But some who live near the planned route have concerns about how existing roads will be affected by the project's construction, which is expected to begin this spring and run until late 2018. Putnam County residents John and Rhonda Loudin and their neighbor, Pauline Arthur, live on Honeycutt Sisson Road, across the Kanawha River from Toyota Motor Manufacturing. Arthur said officials who claimed they were from the Department of Transportation approached her in March and suggested using Honeycutt Sisson, a gravel road, as a temporary access road during the project's construction.
"I said, 'That wouldn't be feasible,'" Arthur said. "Every time it rains, you're down in the mud. It's just gonna make a bad situation worse."
John Loudin echoed her concerns, adding that residents are unable to drive the entire length of Honeycutt Sisson because of its poor condition and steep grade. That means the only way out of the hollow is to turn around, he said.
"I used to be able to get through there on four-wheel drive - I can't anymore," John Loudin said.
Walker said Tuesday that while there is interest in using Honeycutt Sisson as an access road during construction, those plans haven't yet been finalized as the project is still in its design phase.
"Because [Bizzack] don't know what the exact alignment will be, they don't know how they'll deal with some of these intersections," Walker said. "Those are things the contractor and design consultants would look at."
While construction is slated to be completed in late 2018, the state must still find a contractor for the paving work.
"If all goes well, we can award the paving contract prior to completion of the grade and drainage project," Walker said, adding that paving the route has an estimated cost of about $70 million and would possibly be completed in spring 2019.
The project uses both the design build model, which puts the state's contractor in charge of engineering the project, and the Private Public Partnership financing method, which pays the contractor in installments. The groundbreaking ceremony will be held at the Highways U.S. 35 maintenance building, just above the Buffalo Bridge Hill.
Reach Elaina Sauber at elaina.sauber@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-3051 or follow @ElainaSauber on Twitter.