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That's a designation from the 1960s for one of a group of highways intended to provide improved access to rural areas of Appalachia.
Corridor H runs from I-79 at Weston east to Elkins, and then on to Parsons, Davis, Bismarck, Moorefield, and ultimately to the Virginia border near Wardensville. Parts are completed, parts are under construction, and parts have yet to be bid (and may never be).
That's a designation from the 1960s for one of a group of highways intended to provide improved access to rural areas of Appalachia.
Corridor H runs from I-79 at Weston east to Elkins, and then on to Parsons, Davis, Bismarck, Moorefield, and ultimately to the Virginia border near Wardensville. Parts are completed, parts are under construction, and parts have yet to be bid (and may never be).
Oh I see, I have also read on here about a Corridor G (I think). Thanks for the info.
Not sure why people are ganging up on Corridor H here. The project holds a lot of potential. First of all, if you're not knowledgeable on a subject, please educate yourself before spewing garbage. The Potomac Highlands region is not dying, it's growing. Hardy County saw 5-15% growth in the last census as it becomes a growing commuter hub for Winchester, Front Royal, and even Harrisonburg (all of which are growing exponentially). Moorefield has already seen some growth from Corridor H. And don't forget that Lost River is a popular weekend getaway for the DC area gay population.
Grant County also saw 5-15% growth in the last census and is currently booming with construction on massive wind farms at Mount Storm being built to supply power to Northern Virginia. Speaking of Mount Storm, Corridor H will go right by Mount Storm Lake (which is heated!!) which will surely boom once it's more accessible, as it already gets a fair amount of vacationers.
The High Alleghenies are West Virginia's most popular tourist destination and Corridor H will give the area a direct limited-access connection with a thriving metropolis, cutting hours off the trip. Thomas, Davis, Elkins, Canaan Valley, Blackwater Falls, Spruce Knob, Seneca Rocks, Timberline, Snowshoe.... all opened up.
I'm not sure sure if any of you have travelled Corridor H yet, but some of the scenery down there is just breathtaking. You should see the view from the Clifford Hollow Bridge in Hardy County. Word is, they may need to build a bridge higher than the New River Gorge Bridge up in Tucker County.
For those doubting the growth potential in tourism along the route, realize that this isn't some podunk tourism that every town in the state is pushing. We're talking resorts here. Back before the State of West Virginia realized an Eastern Panhandle existed, the State of Maryland was pushing forward with another Appalachian corridor, today's Interstate 68. Since its completion, Garrett County, Maryland, has seen exponential growth in their tourism industry. Deep Creek Lake has taken off as a four season resort. They've built vacation homes out the wazoo up there and have brought in all kinds of restaurants and retail to a once isolated area. The Wisp, ASCI, Swallow Falls State Park, Herrington Manor State Park, etc. have become wildly popular. The sleepy little county seat now has a WalMart, Lowe's, and all your standard fast food. Drive northwest of DC on a given summer weekend and you'll see the traffic headed out to the lake. Park along Route 219 at the lake and count the number of Cadillacs you see drive by. Even Allegany County (east of Garrett) has seen its share of tourism growth with the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad and Canal Place in Cumberland. This is what we're expecting to happen with the West Virginia resorts once Corridor H is completed.
Also, remember that it will be a more direct route west from DC. As it stands, if you are living in Northern Virginia and you head west on I-66, you will come to I-81 where your options of continuing west include taking 81 north to any number of two-lane routes that will connect you with I-68, or taking 81 over 100 miles south to I-64 West. There needs to be a better way.
To the person who mentioned improvements to US Route 50: when my grandfather was in the WV House of Delegates, he pushed for Corridor H to follow Route 50 through Hampshire and Mineral and on west (which is a very bad road). There was a lot of support for that route, but in the end the current route won out. I'm sure it helped that Hardy County is the only majority Democrat county in the region, but I digress.
One more thing....
There seems to be some confusion on this forum regarding the Eastern Panhandle. This is it:
It seems like there's a common misconception that it's just Morgan, Berkeley, and Jefferson, but that's just not the case.
Not really. Federal government and private industry is strong here.
College towns are well off, but not all of them win best city of the year, best economy for a small city, best places for jobs, and lowest unemployment in the country like Morgantown does year after year. Take a look at Morgantown's impressive record. Morgantown is not one of the most successful college towns in the US, but one of the most successful small cities. Go up to College Park Maryland or Camden NJ and see that not all College towns are so successful. Morgantown has achieved Austin type recognition for a city its size.
Most rustbelt areas have not been able to reinvent themselves. Pittsburgh is an exception, along with Boston and a few other areas. By large the rust belt is not a healthy area, including your Cumberland. Morgantown was never part of the rustbelt but it was a small town that became a leading small city with almost no support from the state. That is impressive.
As I stated previously though, the government and private industry presence decided to set up shop here and is thriving here because of WVU. As for other college towns, sure many aren't doing nearly as well as Morgantown, but the university is growing and thriving so naturally the community would as well. Personally, while it may be a little sketchy in places, I like College Park. I have a lot of friends there and have spent extensive time there. Their campus is beautiful and Route 1 has a nice mix of stores, restaurants, bars, etc. and is improving all the time.
It's hard to appreciate just how difficult it is to reinvent an industry town when you don't have much experience with them. When an industry declines and your entire community has been working in blue collar jobs for generations, you can't exactly just retrain your workforce. Pittsburgh may be reinventing itself, but it's still got a declining population. Boston isn't really in what's generally thought of as the rustbelt. As someone who spent a good seventeen years in the area, there's no need for you to tell me that Cumberland is in the rustbelt. I'm well aware. But it's a beautiful area with character and a lot going for it and it will thrive again one day. Morgantown is well within the rustbelt, but isn't a rustbelt town and wasn't effected by the decline because its economy never relied on industry. It's a college town.
Not sure why people are ganging up on Corridor H here. The project holds a lot of potential. First of all, if you're not knowledgeable on a subject, please educate yourself before spewing garbage. The Potomac Highlands region is not dying, it's growing. Hardy County saw 5-15% growth in the last census as it becomes a growing commuter hub for Winchester, Front Royal, and even Harrisonburg (all of which are growing exponentially). Moorefield has already seen some growth from Corridor H. And don't forget that Lost River is a popular weekend getaway for the DC area gay population.
Grant County also saw 5-15% growth in the last census and is currently booming with construction on massive wind farms at Mount Storm being built to supply power to Northern Virginia. Speaking of Mount Storm, Corridor H will go right by Mount Storm Lake (which is heated!!) which will surely boom once it's more accessible, as it already gets a fair amount of vacationers.
The High Alleghenies are West Virginia's most popular tourist destination and Corridor H will give the area a direct limited-access connection with a thriving metropolis, cutting hours off the trip. Thomas, Davis, Elkins, Canaan Valley, Blackwater Falls, Spruce Knob, Seneca Rocks, Timberline, Snowshoe.... all opened up.
I'm not sure sure if any of you have travelled Corridor H yet, but some of the scenery down there is just breathtaking. You should see the view from the Clifford Hollow Bridge in Hardy County. Word is, they may need to build a bridge higher than the New River Gorge Bridge up in Tucker County.
For those doubting the growth potential in tourism along the route, realize that this isn't some podunk tourism that every town in the state is pushing. We're talking resorts here. Back before the State of West Virginia realized an Eastern Panhandle existed, the State of Maryland was pushing forward with another Appalachian corridor, today's Interstate 68. Since its completion, Garrett County, Maryland, has seen exponential growth in their tourism industry. Deep Creek Lake has taken off as a four season resort. They've built vacation homes out the wazoo up there and have brought in all kinds of restaurants and retail to a once isolated area. The Wisp, ASCI, Swallow Falls State Park, Herrington Manor State Park, etc. have become wildly popular. The sleepy little county seat now has a WalMart, Lowe's, and all your standard fast food. Drive northwest of DC on a given summer weekend and you'll see the traffic headed out to the lake. Park along Route 219 at the lake and count the number of Cadillacs you see drive by. Even Allegany County (east of Garrett) has seen its share of tourism growth with the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad and Canal Place in Cumberland. This is what we're expecting to happen with the West Virginia resorts once Corridor H is completed.
Also, remember that it will be a more direct route west from DC. As it stands, if you are living in Northern Virginia and you head west on I-66, you will come to I-81 where your options of continuing west include taking 81 north to any number of two-lane routes that will connect you with I-68, or taking 81 over 100 miles south to I-64 West. There needs to be a better way.
To the person who mentioned improvements to US Route 50: when my grandfather was in the WV House of Delegates, he pushed for Corridor H to follow Route 50 through Hampshire and Mineral and on west (which is a very bad road). There was a lot of support for that route, but in the end the current route won out. I'm sure it helped that Hardy County is the only majority Democrat county in the region, but I digress.
One more thing....
There seems to be some confusion on this forum regarding the Eastern Panhandle. This is it:
It seems like there's a common misconception that it's just Morgan, Berkeley, and Jefferson, but that's just not the case.
You are right about your map of the EP, but those 3 counties are the ones experiencing most of the growth due to their proximity to the DC metro area. Post recession the sunbelt was the area of growth in this country, but DC has been one of the few NE corridor areas experiencing growth since the 90s. Post recession the DC metro and the NE corridor are becoming strong again, and so will metro WV.
As I stated previously though, the government and private industry presence decided to set up shop here and is thriving here because of WVU. As for other college towns, sure many aren't doing nearly as well as Morgantown, but the university is growing and thriving so naturally the community would as well. Personally, while it may be a little sketchy in places, I like College Park. I have a lot of friends there and have spent extensive time there. Their campus is beautiful and Route 1 has a nice mix of stores, restaurants, bars, etc. and is improving all the time.
It's hard to appreciate just how difficult it is to reinvent an industry town when you don't have much experience with them. When an industry declines and your entire community has been working in blue collar jobs for generations, you can't exactly just retrain your workforce. Pittsburgh may be reinventing itself, but it's still got a declining population. Boston isn't really in what's generally thought of as the rustbelt. As someone who spent a good seventeen years in the area, there's no need for you to tell me that Cumberland is in the rustbelt. I'm well aware. But it's a beautiful area with character and a lot going for it and it will thrive again one day. Morgantown is well within the rustbelt, but isn't a rustbelt town and wasn't effected by the decline because its economy never relied on industry. It's a college town.
You're right about Garrett, but that situation is not the same as found in Corridor H. 68 is actually a connector between highly utilized Interstates. Corridor H starts from a 2 lane road in Virginia and goes through a handfull of very small towns. It does increase accessability from the West, but there is little potential for real development in terms of tourism from that direction.
I've been to College Park several times and for years had family living in that area. I wouldn't want to walk around the area near that campus at night. No way. The campus itself is pretty. The area is pretty crappy and at night it is downright scary.
As I stated previously though, the government and private industry presence decided to set up shop here and is thriving here because of WVU. As for other college towns, sure many aren't doing nearly as well as Morgantown, but the university is growing and thriving so naturally the community would as well. Personally, while it may be a little sketchy in places, I like College Park. I have a lot of friends there and have spent extensive time there. Their campus is beautiful and Route 1 has a nice mix of stores, restaurants, bars, etc. and is improving all the time.
It's hard to appreciate just how difficult it is to reinvent an industry town when you don't have much experience with them. When an industry declines and your entire community has been working in blue collar jobs for generations, you can't exactly just retrain your workforce. Pittsburgh may be reinventing itself, but it's still got a declining population. Boston isn't really in what's generally thought of as the rustbelt. As someone who spent a good seventeen years in the area, there's no need for you to tell me that Cumberland is in the rustbelt. I'm well aware. But it's a beautiful area with character and a lot going for it and it will thrive again one day. Morgantown is well within the rustbelt, but isn't a rustbelt town and wasn't effected by the decline because its economy never relied on industry. It's a college town.
Im not going to lie, initially you were right. However, today Morgantown is not so reliant on WVU, due to the growth WVU spurred. That doesnt change the fact that Morgantown and WVU are separate entities and the people of Morgantown need government services. For instance Charleston has the capital but the state provides for them. Huntingon has Marshall and the state provides for them. In Morgantown we have WVU and the state does not provide to us. We are supposed to be grateful that we have WVU and expect nothing else.
Morgantown is not in the rustbelt. You are a WVU student I urge you to take a geography class. Intro to geography is a good class and there is a teacher I had who was WVU's teacher of the year in 2007. Ill get you the name Monday when star comes back up. He is a great teacher.
Morgantown has always been on the edge of the rustbelt, but never really in it. At no point in its history was Morgantown a manufacturing city, although it was once known for glass blowing. The rust belt areas of WV run from the Northern Panhandle along the Ohio River bordering Ohio all the way to Huntington.
When I first moved to Morgantown there was a faucet factory in sabraton, maybe CT remembers it.
For the record I hope Cumberland does make a comeback. I dont know it well but I enjoy the architecture driving through it. It looks real nice and you could tell it was thriving. I feel cumberland is more impressive, architecturally, than any city in WV except for perhaps Wheeling.
The Potomac Highlands is a region within the Eastern Panhandle.
Quote:
Originally Posted by CTMountaineer
You're right about Garrett, but that situation is not the same as found in Corridor H. 68 is actually a connector between highly utilized Interstates. Corridor H starts from a 2 lane road in Virginia and goes through a handfull of very small towns. It does increase accessability from the West, but there is little potential for real development in terms of tourism from that direction.
Once Corridor H is completed it will connect I-79 to I-81, so I don't see how that's any different. Don't give me all that about how Virginia hasn't committed to their section, they'll finish it once West Virginia nears completion on the majority of the highway. Once the highway is finished, I suspect it will be redesignated Interstate 66. Right now, it uses the same US highway number that 68 did. As for walking around College Park at night, I've done it. It's just a bunch of drunk college kids.
Quote:
Originally Posted by cry_havoc
At no point in its history was Morgantown a manufacturing city
That's exactly what I said. Because Morgantown never had an industry-based economy, it never saw the rustbelt decline. But I would still place it geographically in the rustbelt. Why? Well, in my mind, Clarksburg and Charleston (to the south) are clearly rustbelt. Cumberland, MD (to the east) is clearly rustbelt. Parkersburg (to the west) is clearly rustbelt. And basically everything north of Morgantown (Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Wheeling) is clearly rustbelt.
Last edited by drs72; 01-29-2012 at 11:07 AM..
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