By Lydia Crawley, The Parsons Advocate
PARSONS, W.Va. — The Office of the State Highway Engineer has shared to Delegate Gary G Howell that there may be a delay in the opening of the completed section of Corridor H from Kerens to Parsons. The announcement was made in a Facebook post by the Delegate on Saturday, September 27th.
The Delegate stated in the post that he received an email about an inquiry about the completion of the current section of Corridor H that is still under construction through Tucker County. The Delegate posted the response issued by Keith Persinger, M.A. Ed., Office of the State Highway Engineer, West Virginia Division of Highways in Charleston.
“WVDOH shares your goal of opening this critically needed section of the highway as soon as possible. As you noted, the section of Corridor H between Kerens and the bridge over 219 West of Moore is essentially complete,” the Response stated.
The Response went on to state that the section of the Corridor H bridge over 219 to the intersection with WV 72 near Parsons is expected to be complete by the end of construction in 2025 and will determine whether the Kerens to Parsons project can open to traffic this year.
The Response continued that two of the 10 concrete deck pours are completed and depending on weather, the concrete deck is expected to be installed by the end of October. Following, will be the construction of several hundred feet of bridge railing and a concrete median barrier, according to the Response.
“Our staff is working diligently with the contractor to complete this work, allowing the highway to be opened to traffic by late fall,” the Response states.
However, the Response tempers that statement with a continued statement that, “due to potential weather delays and the volume of work that needs to be completed in a relatively short timeframe, it is possible, if not likely, that the project will not be opened until spring 2026.”
The response did end with a positive statement that WVDOH was still confident that the section of Corridor H could be opened between Kerens and Parsons in 2025.
“As noted, we share your goal and are working aggressively to achieve it. With favorable weather and no unforeseen issues, we anticipate achieving an opening in 2025.,” the Response stated.
