Sept. 7—Beckley — Gov. Jim Justice joined West Virginia Secretary of Transportation Jimmy Wriston and Raleigh County Commission Chairman Greg Duckworth Thursday for a groundbreaking ceremony marking the start of work on the southern portion of the Z-Way project near Beckley.
The project, a combination of two separate construction contracts, is designed to relieve congestion on U.S. 19 through the communities of Beaver, Shady Spring and Beckley. Both projects are being financed through Turnpike bonds as part of the state’s $2.8 billion Roads to Prosperity program.
“Today marks a long-awaited milestone for the Beckley community, Raleigh County, and West Virginia,” Justice said. “After two decades, we are finally making the Beckley Z-Way a reality.
“I grew up in Southern West Virginia and have traveled these roads more times than I can remember. When I look around me now, I couldn’t be more proud. We all pulled together to make this much-needed project a reality. I can’t thank you enough. There’s no stopping us now, we’re running straight to the finish line.”
On Wednesday, June 28, 2023, Kanawha Stone Company Inc. was awarded a $56.7 million contract to construct a new road from U.S. 19 and Airport Road to Interstate 64 at the South Eisenhower Drive interchange. The project, connecting Beaver to South Eisenhower Drive in Beckley, is designed to relieve congestion in the area by widening and relocating a portion of U.S. 19.
On Tuesday, November 14, 2023, Mountaineer Contractors Inc. was the low bidder on the second Z-Way construction project from Shady Spring to Beaver, with a bid of just under $54 million. The 3.6-mile project will connect the intersection of US 19 and WV 3 at Shady Spring to US 19 at Beaver, and will connect to the Beaver to South Eisenhower Drive portion of the Z-Way.
“We’ve been working on this for almost two and a half decades to get to this point,” Wriston said. “We’ve struggled because for decades, across the country, we’ve underinvested in our infrastructure. But when Governor Justice took office in 2017, the governor put a new emphasis on roads. We owe that to this great leader here, with his big, bold vision for the Roads to Prosperity.”
The existing US 19 will remain open to traffic while the section from Shady Spring to Beaver is widened. The section from Beaver to South Eisenhower Drive will become an entirely new road along an entirely new route.
“Excited is an understatement,” said Raleigh County Commission President Greg Duckworth. “This initiative represents not only a commitment to improving our infrastructure, but a path toward a brighter, more prosperous future for all of us.”
