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I personally like what Mayor Mullins has done for the city of South Charleston. He has a vision and is flexible to work with business owners and developers in the city.
As for this project, this has been needed for dare I say decades. Since Southridge boomed, there has been a need to upgrade this road to connect the Western part of the Valley with the Corridor. I can't even imagine how long this project will take, as it will be a typical state project with delays and added costs.
I personally like what Mayor Mullins has done for the city of South Charleston. He has a vision and is flexible to work with business owners and developers in the city.
As for this project, this has been needed for dare I say decades. Since Southridge boomed, there has been a need to upgrade this road to connect the Western part of the Valley with the Corridor. I can't even imagine how long this project will take, as it will be a typical state project with delays and added costs.
We can talk about Mullins and South Charleston, but I think it would be better in a thread of its own.
The Jefferson Road project has nothing to do with the South Charleston city government, no matter what Frank Mullins has to say about it. It is a state government project. Jefferson Road is state route 601. The state government bought all those houses in Jefferson Park. The state government released the design for the project.
Looks like a bid for the project has been accepted and a contract awarded to Kokosing Construction. Construction is supposed to start this summer. Yeah right.
What I find a bit odd and concerning is that the article said the “possibility” of an overpass. You mean to tell me that there is only the possibility that the road is going to bridge over the tracks? That is one of the crucial needs of this project, and how else would they expect to create an “interchange” which the article refers to without an overpass? The plans for this thing should be final and ready to go.
Looks like a bid for the project has been accepted and a contract awarded to Kokosing Construction. Construction is supposed to start this summer. Yeah right.
What I find a bit odd and concerning is that the article said the “possibility” of an overpass. You mean to tell me that there is only the possibility that the road is going to bridge over the tracks? That is one of the crucial needs of this project, and how else would they expect to create an “interchange” which the article refers to without an overpass? The plans for this thing should be final and ready to go.
Like you, I have reservations about this process and 'plans'. I am not convinced there are plans. This is like the new Herbert Hoover High School 'plans'. This June 16th will be the 3 year anniversary of the flood that wiped out the school and we do not have a plan. We only just had the site confirmed a few months back. The newspaper had an artists rendition of what the new school would look like and it was a dump. Looked like a strip mall and old folks home stuck together.
While I do not want the school to have the look of a maximum security prison like St Albans High does, this proposal looks stupid in light of this day and age where school shootings take place. The rendering had 11 doors in the wing I could see, like all of the classroom were outside entrance and the kids walked on an open air sidewalk with a fabric awning over them. Sigh, stupid people abound.
Not exactly the same scenario, but a heavily traveled road in Morgantown (705/Mileground) has a traffic circle that has relieved a lot of pressure. Traffic there was arguably among the worst in the state, however they have decreased that significantly. It still is heavy, but it isn't bumper to bumper!
I think the biggest concern that I am reading from your posts is the idea of connecting Jefferson and KT. I think it is crucial that traffic can exit and enter at KT. Coming from Downtown and Montrose, it is important to offer a smoother solution to getting to Southridge. Not everyone will go that way, but it will ease pressure on South Hills/Oakwood.
This isn't completely true. What people are not considering are the amount of people in Morgantown that are totally avoiding the roundabout that is making it appear like it is working better than it is. Of course this is causing more of a backup on every other side street and Stewartstown Rd. As stated above there is still heavy traffic on the roundabout at peak times.
I know people that work at the hospital and live in Cheat Lake and they go all the way to Star City to avoid it. In fact, I took a Uber recently and the driver went completely out of the way so he wouldn't be near the roundabout. LOL He drives for a living. In Morgantown's case, this has nothing to do with people not knowing how to use it. It's been there long enough to learn - but boy were there accidents in the beginning. Even people from other states where they are common say this is the oddest roundabout they have ever seen.
I know someone that worked at the Insurance Center on the Mileground and there were accidents daily when it was first built.
I would suggest people from Charleston go to these DOH meetings to air your concerns. You know the traffic better than anyone. When I attended a DOH meeting about another project I was the only citizen there. Unbelievable. That is part of the problem. The DOH engineers told me they don't live here or drive these roads and they want to talk to people who do. If they don't get that feedback they are just going to implement something that looks good on a drawing but may be a mess in real life to use.
Last edited by motownnative; 04-21-2019 at 08:20 AM..
This isn't completely true. What people are not considering are the amount of people in Morgantown that are totally avoiding the roundabout that is making it appear like it is working better than it is. Of course this is causing more of a backup on every other side street and Stewartstown Rd. As stated above there is still heavy traffic on the roundabout at peak times.
I know people that work at the hospital and live in Cheat Lake and they go all the way to Star City to avoid it. In fact, I took a Uber recently and the driver went completely out of the way so he wouldn't be near the roundabout. LOL He drives for a living. In Morgantown's case, this has nothing to do with people not knowing how to use it. It's been there long enough to learn - but boy were there accidents in the beginning. Even people from other states where they are common say this is the oddest roundabout they have ever seen.
I know someone that worked at the Insurance Center on the Mileground and there were accidents daily when it was first built.
I would suggest people from Charleston go to these DOH meetings to air your concerns. You know the traffic better than anyone. When I attended a DOH meeting about another project I was the only citizen there. Unbelievable. That is part of the problem. The DOH engineers told me they don't live here or drive these roads and they want to talk to people who do. If they don't get that feedback they are just going to implement something that looks good on a drawing but may be a mess in real life to use.
I'm going to have to disagree on the Morgantown point. Granted, it might be my perspective (heck, I've biked through that roundabout!), but it's not a terribly complicated intersection. It's simply incomplete. What ruins it is the fact that you go from two lanes in one direction to one (for now), so your capacity is limited regardless of the intersection geometry. Compared to that godforsaken T-intersection that it replaced (not to mention before they extended the right turn lane at that intersection in ~2009!), it's a welcomed improvement.
Were there increased crashes at the beginning? Yes, but the severity of crashes decreased. Most were just sideswipes because people think they can fly around that thing. And when I say people, I mostly mean inexperienced college students speeding through it. Admittedly, I haven't lived there in five years, but the last couple years I was there everything seemed tame through the roundabout. With the widening of the Mileground on tap, it'll only improve if nothing but added simplicity (two lanes to two lanes).
But on the meetings point, most definitely, yes, attend! Those folks are being paid to be there regardless; better for them to actually have an informed opinion from a local than nothing at all.
Here's the original video, released by the WV DOT, regarding the project and showing the proposed design.
I still believe the roundabout is pointless. Without the traffic going back and forth from MacCorkle and Corridor G as well the elimination of the railroad track interchange, a much more conventional intersection should work just fine. It would take up less space, costing less and most importantly people will not be injured and killed adapting - if ever - to the roundabout.
I still believe the roundabout is pointless. Without the traffic going back and forth from MacCorkle and Corridor G as well the elimination of the railroad track interchange, a much more conventional intersection should work just fine. It would take up less space, costing less and most importantly people will not be injured and killed adapting - if ever - to the roundabout.
Don't forget the people that use the Kanawha Turnpike exit to get to Southridge. Once this road is expanded, more and more people will use that exit to bypass the Oakwood Road exit. There is already a lot of cars that do so (myself included) because at "off-peak" traffic times it is quicker. That traffic circle will help keep flow going tremendously. Also, the possibility of a new high school in the vicinity of the Tech Park will add even more traffic.
Don't forget the people that use the Kanawha Turnpike exit to get to Southridge. Once this road is expanded, more and more people will use that exit to bypass the Oakwood Road exit. There is already a lot of cars that do so (myself included) because at "off-peak" traffic times it is quicker. That traffic circle will help keep flow going tremendously. Also, the possibility of a new high school in the vicinity of the Tech Park will add even more traffic.
It is a matter of mathematics. Not enough people get on there from the Turnpike. Those that do can easily go over to MacCorkle. Is this less convenient for them? Probably, but they do not matter when the vast majority use this as a connector from MacCorkle to Corridor G. Even more will do so once Park Place is operational. The small amount of traffic use the KT to access this corridor are simply not worth the money, the space or the deaths for the inconvenience of using MacCorkle instead.
I realize I am coming across harsh and that is not my intent, but I am tired of emotional based decisions, logic must be employed and should win out when all things are even.
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