The Inter-Mountain file photo The West Virginia Division of Highways is preparing to accept bids for construction of the next section of Corridor H, from Wardensville to the Virginia state line. Above, construction on a Corridor H bridge on U.S. 219 in Tucker County is shown in a file photo from 2023.

CHARLESTON — The West Virginia Division of Highways is preparing to accept bids for construction of the next section of Corridor H, from Wardensville to the Virginia state line, state officials announced.

The project, divided into four separate contracts, will build a new, approximately 7.2-mile, four-lane divided highway, representing the easternmost section of Corridor H in West Virginia. The project starts in Wardensville, picking up where the previous Corridor H construction ended, west of Squirrel Gap Road, and ends near the Virginia State Line, east of Wardensville.

“The WVDOH, after many years of persistent effort, has secured all necessary approvals to begin construction of the Wardensville to Virginia line section of Corridor H,” state Transportation Secretary Tood Rumbaugh, P.E., said in a press release. “This is a significant milestone in the WVDOH’s goal of completing Corridor H in West Virginia.”

Corridor H is a long-term development project to build a four-lane highway from Interstate 79 in Weston to the Virginia state lane. The four-lane is intended to boost economic development and speed travel through some of West Virginia’s most rugged terrain.

“The WVDOH has worked cooperatively with various stakeholders over these past several years to develop a project that both meets the transportation needs of the region while at the same time, minimizing negative environmental impacts,” Rumbaugh said. “The citizens of West Virginia are one step closer to having the modern transportation network this region of the state needs to ensure safe and efficient travel.”

More than 100 miles of Corridor H is currently open to traffic, with remaining sections either under environmental review, design, or already under construction.

The DOH expects to accept bids for the first 3.7-mile section of the Wardensville project, from just west of Squirrel Gap Road to Waites Run Road in Wardensville, on Tuesday, March 10=. Construction is expected to begin later this spring, and be complete by 2030.

The next section, from Waites Run Road to the Virginia state line, is expected to go out for bids in the fall of this year.

The first two construction contracts will be for all the earthwork for the new four-lane. The third section includes construction of two bridges at the Virginia State line, and the final contract will be for paving, guardrails, signs and other finishing work on the new highway.

The DOH hopes to have Wardensville to the Virginia state line open to traffic by 2032.