By Charles Owens, Bluefield Daily Telegraph
BLUEFIELD, W.Va. — A massive timbering project at the site of the King Coal Highway project in Bluefield has concluded.
Approximately 150 acres of timber was cut to make way for the next phase of the new interstate project in Mercer County, according to Rusty Marks with the public relations office for the West Virginia Department of Transportation.
While much of that timbering wasn’t visible to motorists traveling along the new four-lane corridor, the timbered trees are visible from the distance near the “road closed” sign where the King Coal Highway currently connects with the existing Airport Road.
That’s where the next section of the interstate corridor will begin. The new $58 million contract will take the King Coal Highway another 2.5 miles from Airport Road to Littlesburg Road, near Route 20 and the Bluewell community.