By: Lydia Crawley
For: The Parsons Advocate
Kerens – Decades of delay came to an end Monday, June 22nd as Governor Morrisey along with other State and local officials cut the ribbon and officially opened the new 11 mile section of Corridor H from Kerens to the interchange between Parsons and St. George. Now drivers from Elkins headed to Parsons on U.S. Route 48 can do more than look down a desolate four lane pristine road and wish, they can experience 112 miles of Corridor H from Weston to Parsons, leaving only 19.6 miles, with 8 to 9 miles in Tucker County, of the controversial infrastructure project remaining to be finished to the Virginia State line.
Plenty of Tucker County officials and community members joined the over 100 in attendance for the event with such familiar faces as Davis Mayor Al Tomson; Tucker County Commissioners Mike Rosenau, Tim Knotts and Fred Davis and former Parsons Mayor Bruce Kolsun among the crowd. Other notable faces included members of the Go North movement who were on hand to protest for an alternative route for the remaining 8 to 9 miles of Corridor H to be constructed through upper Tucker County.
Opening remarks were given by West Virginia Transportation Secretary Todd Rumbaugh. Rumbaugh said that traveling between Kerens and Parson for years meant traversing narrow, winding two-lane roads, but the opening of the new section of Corridor H would deliver “safe, modern, four-lane highway through some of the most rugged, geo-technically challenging terrain in the entire Appalacian highlands.”
While Rumbaugh said the new road would shorten response times for emergency crews, it was a sentiment echoed by Tucker County Director of Emergency Management Kevin White, who said that prior to the opening, the only time he had been on the new road, was in an emergency capacity. The new road, according to the WVDOH is expected to shorten travel time between Kerens and Parsons 15 to 20 minutes.
U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va. was also on hand to give remarks during the presentation. Capito said in her remarks that she had worked tirelessly to secure funding to complete the project as Chair of the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee. Capito said whenever she would bring up the “tough questions” to Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Administrator Sean McMaster, Corridor H was always first.
Capito told an anecdote that her son decided to take Corridor H back to Washington D.C. with his daughters a while back. They had to stop in Parsons when the youngest said, “Get me off the swervy road of death.”
“When I hear the description of the curvy roads and the mountains you have to go from Kerens to Parsons, I think Rose had a pretty accurate description of the swervy road of death,” Capito said.
Governor Morrisey in his remarks, thanked federal and state level government for the coordinated effort the project has taken to accomplish. In recent memory, he said, every Governor of the State has made it his top priority to see that Corridor H is completed. The Governor warned, however, that while the opening may seem like a victory, the job is still not done.
Senator Robbie Morris, Chair of the Corridor H Authority, stated that the opening of the 11 mile stretch of Corridor H was another promise fulfilled for the people of the State. Morris thanked those who rarely are thanked by officials, the property owners and families whose lands were impacted by the construction of the project.
“Projects of this magnitude inevitably require sacrifice,” Morris said. “And many individuals and families gave up property that had been in their family for generations. These were not merely parcels of land on a map, they were homes, farms, memories and pieces of family history. Those property owners, I want to say thank you for the sacrifices you made so that future generations of West Virginians can benefit from this project.”
Congressman Riley Moore, R-W.Va. was also in attendance. He quipped that the Corridor H project had been in construction longer than he had been alive. While speaking on the importance of bringing dreams to life and how the opening of the 11 miles was the culmination of generations of dreams of federal and state officials and workers, he said it was his dream to never drive through Maryland again on his way to Charleston.
“This is going to connect a lot of the communities in West Virginia, but as you heard a lot of the other speakers say, its really going to open up West Virginia, the interior of West Virginia,” Moore said. “And I think we are one of the best kept secrets in America as it relates to outdoor tourism and recreation in the entire country. Indeed it is true we have the best people in the country.”
Last to speak was Federal Highway Administration Administrator Sean McMaster said that while statistics are easy to look at and “get lost in,” those numbers “represent real asphalt, real bridges and real jobs right here in West Virginia.” He said that his department was working at the “Speed of Trump” to bring projects like Corridor H to fruition.
Senator Jim Justice did not attend in person, but sent a statement that was read by Rumbaugh. In the statement, Justice recalled his work on Corridor H during his time as Governor of West Virginia.
“I made Corridor H a priority because I knew what it meant to this region and what it could for the future of our state,” Rumbaugh read.
Following the ribbon cutting, Governor Morrisey and other officials were the first allowed to drive on the new road before it was opened to the general public.
See more at: Parsons Advocate,here
