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ELKINS -- The Randolph County Commission unanimously approved a funding request from the Corridor H Highway Authority during its regular meeting this week at the James F. Cain Courthouse Annex.
Corridor H Highway Authority Chairman Robbie Morris made an information presentation to Commissioners David Kesling and Chris See. Morris requested the organization's annual allocation of $5,000 from the Commission and provided an update on the construction of Corridor H.
"Great progress is being made on Corridor H, on the Kerens to Parsons sections, with some of the sections scheduled to open in late 2025," said Morris. "The greater work is being done at a critical point in Corridor H's future on the Parsons to Davis and Wardensville state line sections. We are hoping to get that out to bid later this year."
Morris told the commissioners that there have been a couple hiccups with the Parsons, Davis and Wardensville section.
"There are some things that have happened and the DOH is working diligently through those to get that project out to bid so it can be under construction in 2025," said Morris. "Parsons to Davis, as you know ,is going under a thorough review of potential routes once it gets to the top of Backbone Mountain right around Tucker County High School.
"There are two routes currently being evaluated by the West Virginia DOH. One is called the ROPA and one is called BAA 2. That work should be wrapping up and I anticipate sometime in the not too distant future, the selection will be put out for public comment and then the regulatory processes to get authorization to bid on that project."
Morris said there has been some opposition put up over the Parsons to Davis section of Corridor H.
"The Corridor H Authority is working diligently to keep things on track," he said. "We have been alternative route agnostic. We trust in the process that the West Virginia DOH and others are going through to determine what would be the best route for environmental purposes, for culturally and historically sensitive areas, for safety purposes, costs, a myriad of different factors that are going in.
"The information that we have right now, that has been made available to the public, appears that the ROPA is what we think is the best alternative and the one DOH should go with. However, should the DOH come back and say 'no,' the (alternative) is the one we should go with, then we would support that. The bottom line is that Corridor H needs to be completed and it needs to be completed soon. We have waited over 50 years for this project and it's about time we finish it up. Funding is in place to get the vast majority of these projects under construction and that is what we are in support of."
Kesling told Morris the Randolph County Commission has supported the Corridor H project for the past 50 years and will continue to do so. The money will be taken from the community development line item in the county's budget.
"Your contributions, as does all of the counties', contribute toward Corridor H and the Region 7 Planning and Development Council," Morris said. "Those funds go toward our efforts to keep Corridor H on track for construction bidding, construction awarding, and construction completion. So that's what these funds will go toward."