Gov. Justice announces bid awards for major Roads To Prosperity projects in Marshall, Roane counties
4/8/2020
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CHARLESTON, WV – Gov. Jim Justice announced today that two West Virginia companies have been awarded the construction bids for major Roads To Prosperity projects in Marshall and Roane counties.
"I want to make it clear that this announcement today is in no way meant to minimize the battle we’re continuing to fight against the spread of the coronavirus," Gov. Justice said. "In fact, after this announcement, I held another one of our daily media briefings to give our latest updates.
"But I did want to highlight two major road construction projects that will significantly improve West Virginia Route 2 in Marshall County and Scott Miller Hill Road in Roane County," Gov. Justice added. "The Kent-Franklin Road project in Marshall County involves widening the existing two-lane road to a four-lane road for two miles from the Town of Kent to the Town of Franklin to eliminate congestion and improve traffic flow.
"I'm very pleased to announce that Litman Excavating from New Martinsville, a local contractor, has been awarded the bid on this project and it came in at $21.9 million, more than $1.6 million under Department of Highways estimates. This is great news and will be a big boost in jobs and boost for local businesses."
The scheduled completion date for the Marshall County project is September 2022.
The bid for the Scott Miller Hill Road bypass project in Roane County was also awarded to a local, in-state contractor – Kanawha Stone from Poca – and came in nearly $13 million below estimate at $40.4 million.
"Work on this project will be a real upgrade for the safety of our motorists," Gov. Justice said. "Basically, a big bend in the road going over a mountain that leads into the town of Spencer is going to be removed. It's a 4.35-mile section of Route 33 that will be relocated and straightened."
The scheduled completion date for the Roane County project is the end of 2022.
Gov. Justice also praised the Department of Transportation for the work that has been continuing through the COVID-19 crisis and the work-from-home and social distancing policies they have established that are allowing them to keep projects moving forward.
"They are doing great work during this very difficult time," Gov. Justice said. "We have over $1 billion-worth of major infrastructure improvement projects either complete or underway through the Roads To Prosperity Program and this is going to continue to help our economy."
"Even in these extraordinary times, we appreciate Governor Justice's vision and commitment to transportation and we remain focused on these important Roads To Prosperity projects," said DOT Secretary Byrd White.
DOT Deputy Secretary Jimmy Wriston said this work on Route 2 "has been needed for a long time" and that the Roane County project has been on the "books for decades" and would have likely never been done if it weren't for Governor Justice's Roads To Prosperity program.
Contact Information
Jordan Damron, Jordan.L.Damron@wv.gov