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presents

The Roads and Rails of Mercer County, WV /

CR 7

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Highway	Names	Start	Terminus	Length (km)
CR 7	Gardner Rd., Spanishburg-Athens Rd., Mercer Springs Rd.	US 19, Spanishburg	WV 20 south of Athens	10

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Overview

County Route 7 serves as an east-west connector between the US 19 and WV 20 corridors, connecting Athens to Spanishburg. It crosses I-77 and the West Virginia Turnpike at its midpoint, directly connecting via Exit 14.

CR 7 is one of the few secondary highways in Mercer County built entirely to primary highway standards, with two full lanes and a centre stripe. The east leg is especially heavily-travelled, since it takes the lion's share of commuter and tourist traffic from afar destined for Concord University, PikeView High School, and Pipestem State Park.

History

CR 7 was commissioned in 1933, and initially routed upon pre-existing infrastructure from the late nineteenth century.

When the West Virginia Turnpike was constructed in 1952-54, CR 7 crossed the highway via an overpass and did not have a direct connection. This changed when the Turnpike was "twinned" in 1979. A diamond interchange was constructed at this time, enabling direct access between I-77 and CR 7. To facilitate this, the two kilometres of CR 7 surrounding the interchange were rebuilt upon a newly-constructed level alignment.

Bethel Road (CR 14/4) is a stub of CR 7's former alignment east of the interchange. A stub of the former road also existed west of the interchange, until being obliterated by adjustments in the 2000s.

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Facing west at the point where CR 7's pre- and post-1979 alignments diverge. (Photo by the author, 2000.)

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Fractional spur roads

Road	Names	Start	Terminus	Length (km)	Notes
7/1	Kegley River Rd., Sharps Turn Rd.	CR 7 south of Spanishburg	US 19, Kegley	7	Original 1930s road with numbers assigned from west to east. South leg was originally CR 19/16.
7/2	Rocky Branch Rd.	CR 7 west of Gardner	CR 7/1	2	Original 1930s road with numbers assigned from west to east.
7/3	Old Gardner Rd.	CR 7 west of Gardner	CR 16, Gardner Junction	4	Original 1930s road with numbers assigned from west to east. CR 16's predecessor road.
7/4	Cornbread Ridge Rd.	CR 7, Gardner	CR 19/9 and 19/11	3	Original 1930s road with numbers assigned from west to east.
7/5	Old Springs Rd., Unity Rd.	CR 7 east of Gardner	WV 20, Athens	3	Original 1930s road with numbers assigned from west to east.
7/6	Moore Hollow Rd.	CR 7 south of Spanishburg	dead end	2
7/7	(unknown)
7/8	Hardwood Ln.	CR 7/4, Gardner	dead end	insignificant
7/9	(WVDOT District 10 office driveway)	CR 7/4, Gardner	CR 7/8, Gardner	insignificant	Road gated.
7/10	Thunder Valley Dr.	CR 7/4, Gardner	dead end	insignificant
7/11	Candace Ct.	CR 7/10, Gardner	dead end	insignificant
7/12	Jason Ave.	CR 7/10, Gardner	dead end	insignificant
7/13	Joshua St.	CR 7/13, Gardner	dead end	insignificant

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