WVDOH: We may have the Mon-Fayette Expressway done by the end of this year

A WVDOH official indicated that the WV portion of the Mon-Fayette Expressway could be open by the end of the year.

The I-68/Bower's Lane interchange project should be completed by November. The northern half of the interchange which connects to Bower's Lane is 40 percent complete. The southern half of the interchange - a direct tie in to Interstate 68 - is 25 percent finished.

Story Links:
W. Va. portion of expressway could open this year ---The Charleston Gazette
Mon-Fayette Expressway ---WDTV w/video

Commentary:
I just can't see how the direct connection with I-68 will be finished by the end of the year. I expect that West Virginia will open the highway to Bower's Lane - forcing traffic to take a less than one mile detour on WV 857 to get to I-68 - then open the direct connection to I-68 sometime next year.

Comments

Anonymous said…

I can see crews making progress on the Bowers Lane interchange contract, but nothing extremely drastic appears to be happening at the site of the proposed I-68 interchange. You can see construction near the I-68 westbound offramp to Cheat Lake, but nothing is happening on the other side of the interchange near the Burger King. A flyover ramp from the Mon-Fayette Expressway to I-68 East is supposed to be built in that area in conjunction with a "flyunder" ramp that will carry traffic from I-68 East to Route 43 North. At least, those are the plans that I've seen.

I can't picture the I-68 interchange opening by next fall.

12:51 PM

Anonymous said…

Actually, according to the link below as well as several other articles, the I-68 interchange is not going to be all that much initially. Right now, according to the article, crews are working on the first phase of the I-68 interchange. The second phase will make the new interchange similar to the one at the western end of I-68, but this contract won't be let until traffic volumes increase.

That seems accurate as there are no evidence of construction at the proposed location of the flyover ramps. Wonder what phase 1 of the I-68 interchange includes? It seems like it's going to initially be of an odd hybrid design.

In any sense, I think it's incorrect for officials to say that West Virginia's portion of the Mon-Fayette Expressway will be totally finished by the end of this year.

http://www.allbusiness.com/transportation/road-transportation-trucking-road/13715110-1.html

1:33 PM

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