GHENT — Progress on a new scenic roadway proposed for several southern West Virginia counties remains slow.
The search for funding to get the Shawnee Parkway to the Mercer County border is continuing, according to Joe Coburn, president of the Mercer County Commission and a member of the Shawnee Parkway board.
Construction on the first 1.22 miles of the roadway in the Ghent community, near the border of Raleigh and Mercer counties, was completed last year. Coburn said officials hope to build another section of the road that will reach Mercer County.
“That last little project has already been completed, and we are just waiting on approval for another segment,” Coburn said. “We are always optimistic, but it takes so long just to get another mile or two. But if we can get enough mileage — that (the Mercer County border) is where it will take it to.”
The scenic two-lane corridor is proposed to extend 22 miles from Ghent in Raleigh County to the mountaintop ridges of Mercer County before it ultimately connects with the King Coal Highway near Crumpler in McDowell County. The project was first proposed for the region in 1986.
Coburn said officials are still hoping the Shawnee Parkway may qualify for federal funding from the second round of transportation stimulus dollars, along with the King Coal Highway project in Mercer County.
“We just keep hoping and waiting,” Coburn said. “(Shawnee Parkway Coordinator) Dave (Parkulo) rights letters everyday to someone in Washington and Charleston.”
While not a four-lane interstate corridor like the King Coal Highway, Coburn said the Shawnee Parkway is still important to Mercer County, and the entire region.
“It will open up both Flat Top and McDowell County,” Coburn said. “It will open up a lot of things. It is a highway which the governor has described as a beautiful and scenic highway.”
The total cost to build the Shawnee Parkway is estimated at $293 million.
— Contact Charles Owens at cowens@bdtonline.com
Local News
September 29, 2009
Scenic Shawnee Parkway on slow road to progress
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