Paving is on schedule to be complete by the end of the year on a stretch of MacCorkle Avenue between 40th Street and 58th Street.
The paving is part of a massive, three-part project to renovate MacCorkle Avenue through Kanawha City all the way from 33rd Street to 58th Street. Work is paid for in part with funding from Gov. Jim Justice’s $2.8 billion Roads to Prosperity program.
“Renovating MacCorkle Avenue through Kanawha City has been a major priority for us,” said WVDOH District 1 Manager Arlie Matney. “It’s going to make for better travel through the area and easier access to the businesses and the State Capitol Complex on the other side of the Kanawha River. This much-needed maintenance will assure smooth, safe travel through Kanawha City for years to come.”
A website, kanawhacityrecconstruction.com, has been established explaining the project and providing construction updates. The website features traffic cameras to allow motorists to monitor road conditions in real time.
Work began in 2021, when SQP Construction Group was awarded a contract for $570,000 to install 105 ADA-compliant curb cuts along MacCorkle Avenue between 35th Street and 58th Street. Work on the curb cuts had to be completed before work could begin on the roadway.
In October 2021, Mountaineer Contractors Inc. was awarded a $10 million contract to completely rebuild MacCorkle Avenue from the ground up from 33rd to 40th Street. The work includes the construction of new sidewalks and drainage structures.
In December 2022, Gov. Jim Justice awarded a contract for $9,300,698 to Mountaineer Contractors Inc. to completely repave MacCorkle Avenue from 40th Street to 58th Street. The contract included milling off the old pavement to the concrete underneath and making any necessary concrete repairs before repaving MacCorkle Avenue.
Project supervisor Andy Womack said work continues installing drainage structures along MacCorkle Avenue between 33rd and 40th streets, where work included digging up MacCorkle Avenue down to ground level and completely rebuilding the road. Rehabilitation of 33rd to 40th streets is expected to be complete by the fall of 2024.
But Womack said paving work on 40th Street to 58th Street should be finished by Thanksgiving if the weather cooperates. Work on the 18-block section of MacCorkle Avenue was much less complicated that completely rebuilding MacCorkle Avenue from 33rd Street to 40th Street.
Much of the work on MacCorkle Avenue is being done at night to minimize the impact on the traveling public.
Final work on 40th Street to 58th Street is expected to be complete by spring of 2024.