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In regards to I-73/74 in Ohio, I think it would be better to have a four lane road, either designated I-73/74 or at least a State road, from Huntington to Columbus for transportation/shipping purposes. That way the Port of Columbus, Port of Huntington-Tri-State and the Intermodal facilities in Prichard and Columbus have a direct route. Once you reach Chillicothe, Rt 35 is four lane to Dayton and from there you can take an interstate back and forth to Detroit and Canada or to Indianapolis and further points in the mid-west. Also, once in Columbus, an interstate can be taken or brought from Cleveland/Pittsburgh/Canada.
I believe NC has almost completed their section of I-73/I-74.
In regards to I-73/74 in Ohio, I think it would be better to have a four lane road, either designated I-73/74 or at least a State road, from Huntington to Columbus for transportation/shipping purposes. That way the Port of Columbus, Port of Huntington-Tri-State and the Intermodal facilities in Prichard and Columbus have a direct route. Once you reach Chillicothe, Rt 35 is four lane to Dayton and from there you can take an interstate back and forth to Detroit and Canada or to Indianapolis and further points in the mid-west. Also, once in Columbus, an interstate can be taken or brought from Cleveland/Pittsburgh/Canada.
I believe NC has almost completed their section of I-73/I-74.
You basically have four lanes from Columbus to Huntington following US 23 and US 52. Invest in a some of bypasses around a few small towns (South Bloomfield, Circleville area, Waverly, Piketon, Lucasville) and a new connector/bypass from above Rosemont to east of New Boston and you're good to go. Add to that a new bridge from C-K to South Point/Burlington and widening US 52 the nine miles to Prichard and we're in business.
Also, dredge the Big Sandy to Prichard. The new article says it can't handle the barges that would be needed and that the Corps might look into it. Might? If we're investing so much money in this intermodal facility, we should probably upgrade all modes of transportation to/from it.
Edit - Apparently, per the Prioritization of Unfunded Projects from the DOT, widening US 52 from Kenova to Prichard would be $141 million. Yikes.
In regards to I-73/74 in Ohio, I think it would be better to have a four lane road, either designated I-73/74 or at least a State road, from Huntington to Columbus for transportation/shipping purposes. That way the Port of Columbus, Port of Huntington-Tri-State and the Intermodal facilities in Prichard and Columbus have a direct route. Once you reach Chillicothe, Rt 35 is four lane to Dayton and from there you can take an interstate back and forth to Detroit and Canada or to Indianapolis and further points in the mid-west. Also, once in Columbus, an interstate can be taken or brought from Cleveland/Pittsburgh/Canada.
I believe NC has almost completed their section of I-73/I-74.
US-35 is 4 lanes from Pt. Pleasant to Dayton and will eventually be four lane from I64...
Maybe upgrading Rt. 2 to Pt. Pleasant would be the best option.
NC has done some work on I74, though it is still incomplete and will remain disconnected from the rest of I74 in the midwest until Ohio and Virginia decide to do something.
I73 at this point only exists in pieces in NC, with no other states committing to the project and Ohio not even studying it anymore.
US-35 is 4 lanes from Pt. Pleasant to Dayton and will eventually be four lane from I64...
Maybe upgrading Rt. 2 to Pt. Pleasant would be the best option.
NC has done some work on I74, though it is still incomplete and will remain disconnected from the rest of I74 in the midwest until Ohio and Virginia decide to do something.
I73 at this point only exists in pieces in NC, with no other states committing to the project and Ohio not even studying it anymore.
Upgrading WV-2 is vital to the state's success, but it is myopic to look at it just from Prichard's viewpoint. You will have to start from the source of the materials and work to distribution points. Just getting from Prichard to Point Pleasant falls well short of that. You need to get from Chester to Huntington and by extension Prichard, and from Morgantown to Moundsville to connect to WV-2. Doing that will connect materials, production, products, and markets everywhere including Charleston/Kanawha Valley via I-77. A comprehensive plan needs to be in place to benefit all of the state's population centers, and they need to stop coming up with pie in the sky ideas about roads to nowhere hoping to attract some tourists.
If West Virginia is going to compete in the national marketplace, we need a system to develop our natural resources (the ones with the most market potential) and move them through the process of extraction, refinement, production, and distribution. North Central WV, the entire Ohio Valley in the state, and the Kanawha Valley are all the major factors in bringing this about. Having all of these areas interconnected with modern highways is the answer. Utilizing this system in conjunction with barge and containerized railroad and truck transport will insure competitiveness.
What we need is a highway network that opens our state up to the outside to export of materials. Upgrading Route 2 and extending I-68 will certainly do that. But also building from Prichard south towards the coal mines would also do that. Remember that we still have tons of coal ready to mine and foreign buyers ready to invest in it. The only reason the coal industry is in decline is because of the feds. Prichard must me connected to the coal fields, and honestly was part of the reason Prichard was chosen for the intermodal terminal. If they wanted it just for the natural gas, then they wouldn't have built it in Huntington.
I wasn't referring to Rt 35 in the direction of Point Pleasant. I went back and read my post and I didn't explain myself the way I thought I had. I meant turn Rt. 23 from Portsmouth to Columbus into a four lane, controlled access highway, like how Rt. 52 is from Chesapeake to Portsmouth.
I also agree that the Big Sandy River needs to be dredged to help the Intermodal facility operate at full capacity.
The $141 million price tag is in the ballpark of what I thought it would cost for that section of road.
For the most part, I-74 in NC is closer to being completed. I believe there is a section close to Rockingham that is still under construction to be upgraded and I-74 already meets I-95 in SE North Carolina.
What we need is a highway network that opens our state up to the outside to export of materials. Upgrading Route 2 and extending I-68 will certainly do that. But also building from Prichard south towards the coal mines would also do that. Remember that we still have tons of coal ready to mine and foreign buyers ready to invest in it. The only reason the coal industry is in decline is because of the feds. Prichard must me connected to the coal fields, and honestly was part of the reason Prichard was chosen for the intermodal terminal. If they wanted it just for the natural gas, then they wouldn't have built it in Huntington.
I agree with this except I don't know where the market will be for the type of coal located there. Traditionally, southern WV coal was used in the steel mills in the Upper Ohio Valley from Moundsville to Pittsburgh. When most of those mills closed, costing tens of thousands of well paid steelworkers their jobs, the market for that coal went with them. The southern part of our state, by direct necessity, took the hit with the Northern Panhandle since that is who bought their coal.
There is very little steel made in this country these days. Same for aluminum, but that is another matter. The policies of the current administration in DC resulted in the closing of many coal fired power plants. That had an adverse effect on northern mines, because their type of coal is what is traditionally used in power plants. However, market conditions are different for higher sulfur steel producing coal than they are for power plant, steam producing coal. All those steel, and many of those aluminum producing jobs went to cheap labor countries like China. China has its own coal mines that produce coal of the type used to make metals. What they lack is sufficient steam producing coal to meet the growing needs of their power plants.
In addition, the Germans, who traditionally have relied heavily on nuclear power for their electricity, became worried about the dangers of nuclear power after the Russian and Japanese nuclear power plant disasters. As a result, they are retiring their nuclear plants and shifting to... you guessed it, coal powered plants. The loss of markets for northern coal due to the DC policies eventually came to be offset entirely by new demand from China and Germany. The northern mines are operating full tilt. For those southern mines to get the jump they need though, a new market must be found. Put some tarrifs in place and start up the Northern Panhandle steel mills again and, problem solved... all that southern coal will have a market. Absent that, the prospects are dim for that sector.
It's not the Prichard section but I found this interesting:
Quote:
State highway commissioner Paul Mattox agreed to a request from U.S. Rep. Nick Rahall to consider putting “a usable section” of the King Coal Highway into the 6-year plan.
Mattox said that based on current projections of available funding and anticipated construction costs, the agency will be adding a project to complete the section of the King Coal Highway from the U.S. Route 460 Interchange to state Route 123 to the plan.
Interesting that the part being considered isn't near Prichard, which obviously would have greater significance. Politics as usual, then we talk about fighting it out with Mississippi to see who gets to claim last place.
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