CHARLESTON-
West Virginia Transportation Secretary Paul Mattox announces that it will celebrate the newest 1.6 mile section of the East Beckley Bypass at a ribbon cutting ceremony Monday, December 5, 2011 beginning at 10:00 a.m. Joining Secretary Mattox will be West Virginia Congressman Nick Joe Rahall, West Virginia Administrator for the Federal Highway Administration Tom Smith and other state and local officials. The event will take place on the new bypass about 1 mile from Grey Flats Road (the YMCA Soccer Complex and Beckley Stratton Junior High School). Highways personnel will be on hand to assist with traffic.
The public is invited to attend.
“It will be my honor next week to join Congressman Rahall and other distinguished guests to celebrate the completion of another section of the East Beckley Bypass,” stated Secretary Mattox. “This project has been in development for many years and would not have progressed as quickly without the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the leadership of Governor Tomblin, the support of Congressman Rahall and the partnership of Beckley Mayor Emmett Pugh, Bill Baker and the Beckley-Raleigh County Transportation Authority, and many others who have remained dedicated to this project and the potential it holds for the region.”
“Building this highway put people to work. That was the aim of the federal funding I supported to build it,” said U.S. Rep. Nick J. Rahall (D-W.Va.), top Democrat on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. “Over time, it will prove itself, again and again, as a wise investment for future jobs and our economy. The partnership among city leaders, especially Mayor Pugh and Transportation Authority Chairman Bill Baker, and Governor Tomblin and Secretary Mattox, sends a clear message to our Nation’s Capitol that the American people are ready and willing to work together to strengthen our Nation. It signals that our Nation is ready for a long-term, fully funded transportation bill to move the country forward.”
The original $19,817,524 construction contract, awarded to Vecellio & Grogan of Beckley, was for the construction of a .89 mile section from Grey Flats Road to Cranberry Creek that included a bridge over Cranberry Creek. Contract add-ons to construct a .68 mile section from the end of the new Cranberry Creek Bridge to Stanaford Road (County 41) that included a left turn lane on Stanaford Road bring the total project cost to $33,431,000.
Future progress will ultimately bring the East Beckley Bypass beyond Stanaford Road to tie back into US 19 at Industrial Drive north of Beckley.