By Savanna Shriver, Times West Virginian
FAIRMONT — The Marion Regional Development Corp. was named master developer of the old Coke Works Site in East Side May 11 by Fairmont City Council.
This means the economic development agency will begin working to develop the Fairmont Transportation Research Campus, an autonomous vehicle testing and research site. According to MRDC President Nick Fantasia, the goal is to complete water and sewer funding this year and dirt funding completed the following year, to allow black top to be laid sometime in 2024.
“So if all the dominoes lined up right, we could potentially have a significant piece of this done in 60 months,” Fantasia said.
Many details of the build have been planned out, but MRDC does not have all of the estimated $32.7 million they need for the project that is gaining interest in the sector. Fantasia said several big names in autonomous research and vehicle development have been in contact with the MRDC since he project was made public…
