By Mannix Porterfield
An ambitious plan to reshape traffic patterns in the Beckley area and give motorists much-needed relief in peak driving hours has added some new wrinkles.
One new chapter being written into the highly touted Z-Way plan calls for the widening of W.Va. 41 so it becomes at least a three-lane road and eliminates an intersection at Eisenhower Drive and Stanaford Road.
“Right now, it’s in the design stage to bridge over and tie this in to Rural Acres Drive so that Stanaford Road flows directly into Rural Acres,” explained Bill Baker, chairman of the Beckley-Raleigh County Transportation Authority.
“Traffic then will not be tied up there. The plan is to widen it and do away with that intersection.”
Another key feature calls for the Z-Way to come behind Lowe’s and Wal-Mart, then swing back and tie into Ragland Road, which is under design as a five-lane road to eventually link up with Robert C. Byrd Drive, completing the circle, Baker pointed out.
“Right now,” he said of the overall Z-Way plan, “it’s either under construction or in the design stage. A lot of it’s already designed.”
Vecellio & Grogan holds a $19.8 million contract for a portion of the East Beckley bypass, an integral part of the scheme.
Intended to be completed by the end of summer 2011, this portion entails a four-lane bridge over the Cranberry Creek gorge and a small section of highway from Grey Flats to Cranberry Creek.
Within six months, Baker said, the local authority expects to get a report from an engineering firm hired by the Division of Highways on whether W.Va. 41 turns into a three- or five-lane road.
“Everything has been approved,” Baker emphasized. “This route has been approved up to Ragland Road.”
Ragland Road itself is to be expanded into five lanes, meaning portions of some business properties will have to be taken to make room for the wider road.
“The idea is to get five lanes flowing all the way through Z-Way and into Robert C. Byrd, which is five lanes right now,” Baker said.
“This eliminates the need to extend this on out to Bradley.”
Talk has been generated in recent months about pushing the project to Bradley, given the recent announcement that the Boy Scouts of America plan to establish a national scouting center at Garden Grounds near Mount Hope.
Traffic already is sufficient to support widening of Ragland, Baker said.
“This was in the works before the Boy Scout announcement came,” he said.
“What the Boy Scouts thing does now is that it makes it imperative that the state get on with it quickly and get it finished because you will have all these planes coming into the airport. This is a perfect route for them. It would just be seamless travel right into Robert C. Byrd and off at Glen Jean and into the park.”
This concept is the one the authority is impressing on the DOH that should be on the final blueprint, once the firm of Wilbur Smith Associates in Charleston performs its research, Baker said.
Not all of the Z-Way project likely will be finished by the end of 2011, but by then, hopefully the final links will be under construction, Baker said, adding the authority is pleased with the support of Gov. Joe Manchin and his transportation secretary, Paul Mattox.
“We appreciate the governor and Secretary Mattox understand the need for this project being completed as soon as possible,” Baker said.
“Not only because the Boy Scouts are coming, but it will also help eliminate a lot of our traffic problems here in Raleigh County.”
— E-mail: mannix@register-herald.com
