Coalfields Expressway Receives $10 Million Kick-Start
Saturday, Apr 05, 2008
BY Debra McCown
Bristol Herald Courier
ABINGDON, Va. – Virginia
Gov. Tim Kaine announced Friday $10 million in transportation grants to
help with construction of the Coalfields Expressway, a long-discussed
highway through Wise, Dickenson and Buchanan counties.
"Because of the topography of the area, it’s not a
cheap piece of infrastructure to build, but it’s a necessary project,"
Kaine said of the 51-mile, four-lane road proposed to link Virginia’s
coalfields with Interstate highways in West Virginia.
"What this says is that the state’s investing because
we believe that investment demonstrates there’s a momentum for this
project ... that’s not going to be turned around."
Kaine said the project will not only bring economic
development to the state and region, it will also open up stunning
vistas like those along the scenic Blue Ridge Parkway.
U.S. Rep. Rick Boucher, who’s favored the project for
more than two decades, says the recent partnership with two local coal
companies will cut the projected cost by half – from $4 billion to $2
billion.
The idea is for the companies, Alpha Natural Resources
and Pioneer Coal Company, to prepare the road bed as they mine coal
along the route, disturbing the ground only once and using machinery
already in the area for mining operations.
Alpha CEO Michael Quillen said Friday that the two
companies could complete the road within 10 years, "but the funding
sources are not going to come as quickly as we can move dirt."
Kaine said during these times of declining revenue,
creative funding solutions are needed to pay for projects like the
Coalfields Expressway, which have been on the back burner for decades.
He said his goal in a transportation special session of
the general assembly later this year will be to seek long-term funding
strategies for such projects around the state.
One of the $5 million Transportation Partnership
Opportunity Fund grants announced Friday will help create a roadbed for
the Rockhouse section of the expressway, between the West Virginia line
and state Route 643 in Buchanan County.
The other $5 million grant will be used to create a
roadbed for the Hawk’s Nest section, also in Buchanan County, adjacent
to the proposed Route 460 Connector interchange and state Route 614.
General assembly members who represent Buchanan County also praised the project on Friday.
Delegate Dan Bowling, D-Oakwood, called the
announcement "a red-letter day for those in the energy-producing
counties of Southwest Virginia."
"When coal became king over the years, the one thing it
brought to us was railroads ... but it took us a long time to develop a
good highway system in these rugged mountain areas of Virginia,"
Bowling said. "It will truly open up these counties in a way that
they’ve never been opened up before."
He said thousands of acres of flat land will also be created along the expressway, opening up the area for economic development.
Phil Puckett, D-Tazewell, said it’s the best example he’s seen of a public-private partnership.
"We are going to build the Coalfields Expressway," he said.
