(Map courtesy of West Virginia Department of Transportation)

Gov. Jim Justice of West Virginia announced June 28 that he has approved a bid award for the construction of an approximately 3-mi. section of Corridor H in Tucker County — a key project in his Roads to Prosperity program.

A.L.L. Construction Inc., from Mount Storm, W.V., was the lowest of five bidders for the roadwork, with a bid of almost $50 million. An additional 15 percent of the bid amount, or $7.5 million, will be added to the bid and set aside for erosion and sediment control to protect the environment, according to a brief from the West Virginia Press Association (WVPA).

The winning bid was less than the West Virginia Division of Highways' (WVDOH) engineering estimate of $71.7 million, including erosion and sediment control.

The contract calls for grading and drainage work for a 3.08-mi portion of the highway to be built from a starting point near the Cheat River Bridge.

"I congratulate everyone involved in the next leg of this important project," Justice said. "I've said over and over, Corridor H is one of, if not the, most important highways that we need to finish in West Virginia. It's so vital because it links us right to [Washington] D.C. It will bring population growth and businesses, and more opportunities will follow."

The Tucker County roadwork is part of a larger project that began in Randolph County and will extend the four-lane highway from the Cheat River Bridge to the Roaring Run Bridge near Mackeyville, making the new earthwork project a vital step in construction of the next section of Corridor H.

The contractor is expecting to move about eight million cu. yds. of earth to make way for the road — enough dirt to fill more than 2,400 Olympic sized swimming pools. The WVDOH has already obtained the necessary rights of way for the road construction effort. Corridor H begins in Weston and travels across central West Virginia, eventually linking up with Interstate 81 in Strasburg, Va.

The highway is expected to open some of West Virginia's most remote areas in Grant, Tucker and Hardy counties to economic development, speed travel times through the Appalachian Mountains and provide a smooth, safe highway for travelers and residents.

More than 120 mi. of Corridor H currently is open to traffic, with approximately 30 mi. left to complete. To date, more than $1.93 billion has been spent on the four-lane highway.

Justice Brought Corridor H Back to Life WVPA reported the completion of Corridor H had been in the works for decades before stalling out several years ago. However, after Justice took office in 2017 and instituted his Roads to Prosperity program, more funding began to be secured and work on the corridor picked back up.

"We continue to work really hard on Corridor H and all of our roads across this great state," he said in a statement. "Everywhere you go, you're seeing road improvements and orange cones."

Construction is expected to begin this fall on the Tucker County part of Corridor H. The WVDOH project is currently estimated to be completed in late 2025.

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