WV: US52/King Coal Hwy cluster****

[rickmastfan67]

EDIT: I think I confused the green section (from roadwaywiz's recent WV Webinar) with the part being built from WV 123 to US 460 scheduled to be completed later this year.

Well, when that opens, let's hope that the 'Truck' US-52 in Bluefield will be decommissioned as well.  That and US-52 gaining a business route into town on the current route of US-52.

[rickmastfan67]

Anyways, now submitted.

https://github.com/TravelMapping/HighwayData/pull/4625

However, I'm not totally opposed to swap it to a 'future' file.  If so, make a post here and on the GitHub page before Jim pulls it in so it can be changed.

[Markkos1992]

EDIT: I think I confused the green section (from roadwaywiz's recent WV Webinar) with the part being built from WV 123 to US 460 scheduled to be completed later this year.

Well, when that opens, let's hope that the 'Truck' US-52 in Bluefield will be decommissioned as well.  That and US-52 gaining a business route into town on the current route of US-52.

I doubt there will be a business route.  WV does not do them for some reason.

It does annoy me that this results in US 19 going through Bluefield, VA/WV, while US 460 goes around town staying on Corridor Q.

[rickmastfan67]

It does annoy me that this results in US 19 going through Bluefield, VA/WV, while US 460 goes around town staying on Corridor Q.

For all we know, this could all be on VA for that.  There's no way to tell which state didn't want to do the reroute of US-19 onto the bypass.

[Markkos1992]

It does annoy me that this results in US 19 going through Bluefield, VA/WV, while US 460 goes around town staying on Corridor Q.

For all we know, this could all be on VA for that.  There's no way to tell which state didn't want to do the reroute of US-19 onto the bypass.

It's possible, but personally I doubt it.  VA has business routes all over the place.  Also last I remember, there were still US 460 shields on US 19 in Bluefield, VA.

[vdeane]

Is there a reason why the points appear backwards?

[Markkos1992]

Is there a reason why the points appear backwards?

US 52 is signed N-S in WV so I have no problem with it.

[rickmastfan67]

Is there a reason why the points appear backwards?

US 52 is signed N-S in WV so I have no problem with it.

This because this part isn't connected to anything else.

[mapmikey]

It does annoy me that this results in US 19 going through Bluefield, VA/WV, while US 460 goes around town staying on Corridor Q.

For all we know, this could all be on VA for that.  There's no way to tell which state didn't want to do the reroute of US-19 onto the bypass.

It's possible, but personally I doubt it.  VA has business routes all over the place.  Also last I remember, there were still US 460 shields on US 19 in Bluefield, VA.

Can't find anything specific in the CTB minutes or AASHO files on this question but it is almost certainly a West Virginia request.  My theory is that West Virginia wanted to retain a primary designation through Bluefield, so instead of going through the trouble of making new signs for a WV route they left US 19 in place which given it is not of independent utility north of Bluefield for quite a ways would make the most sense.  CTB minutes did seem to call the bypass the US 19/460 bypass initially.

US 460 shields (including one cutout) were still in Bluefield VA as of summer 2020.

[Markkos1992]

I'm not sure if this affects anything, but it is worth noting.

https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=11115.msg2608365#msg2608365

[rickmastfan67]

I'm not sure if this affects anything, but it is worth noting.

https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=11115.msg2608365#msg2608365

Until I have proof signage has changed (meaning signage along WV-65 & WV-44 going to the KCH), I'm not putting the 'main' route onto the KCH.  This is the whole reason I created the separate file for the KCH segment.

WVDOH items have been showing that it's been rerouted since at least 2017.  Yet, no AASHTO submission, or proper signage change in the field yet.

Problem is, that the WVDOT county maps clearly show the 'old' route as CR-252/57 now.  And the map is as-of August '17.
ftp://gis.transportation.wv.gov/GISCountyMaps/MingoSHEET%202WB.pdf

[rickmastfan67]

EDIT: I think I confused the green section (from roadwaywiz's recent WV Webinar) with the part being built from WV 123 to US 460 scheduled to be completed later this year.

Well, when that opens, let's hope that the 'Truck' US-52 in Bluefield will be decommissioned as well.  That and US-52 gaining a business route into town on the current route of US-52.

Has anybody heard anything new about the Bluefield part?

Latest article I could find was from Aug 8th, 2021.
https://www.bdtonline.com/news/work-approaching-major-milestone-on-bluefield-s-king-coal-highway-bridge/article_7f4c7b4c-f7eb-11eb-96e2-07ba19db0acf.html

[mapmikey]

EDIT: I think I confused the green section (from roadwaywiz's recent WV Webinar) with the part being built from WV 123 to US 460 scheduled to be completed later this year.

Well, when that opens, let's hope that the 'Truck' US-52 in Bluefield will be decommissioned as well.  That and US-52 gaining a business route into town on the current route of US-52.

Has anybody heard anything new about the Bluefield part?

Latest article I could find was from Aug 8th, 2021.
https://www.bdtonline.com/news/work-approaching-major-milestone-on-bluefield-s-king-coal-highway-bridge/article_7f4c7b4c-f7eb-11eb-96e2-07ba19db0acf.html

There is a Sept 7 article but is more vague than the August one, saying open sometime this year:
https://www.register-herald.com/news/state_region/justice-determined-to-see-king-coal-highway-finished/article_a44d2cbb-e49b-5b1a-9661-41876f6c0f34.html

[rickmastfan67]

Well, it seems WVDOT has now officially rerouted US-52 onto the WV-44 connector down to the King Coal Highway per current StreetView as of Aug '22.  Still no recorded of a submission to the AASHTO for the change, but the signage change in the filed is done.

https://goo.gl/maps/xRj3hL453uPheZuy7

Based on that, WV-44 has been shortened, but I can't be 100% sure, as that's the only '22 imagery there.  The closer you get to the US-52/WV-44 intersection, it defaults back to '16 imagery.

So, guessing I'm just going to have to wait a little bit longer for them to get the rest of the new imagery up to know for sure.

[froggie]

My hope is to investigate this Wednesday afternoon as I head down to Charlotte.  However, a combination of the incoming tropical system (now named Nicole) and my wife changing her flight to go into Charlotte Wednesday evening may thwart my plan.