The Andrew Turnbull Network

presents

The Roads and Rails of Mercer County, WV /

WV 108

[WV 108]
[WV 108]
Highway Start Terminus Length (km)
WV 108 WV 52 east of Bluefield WV 123 northeast of Bluefield 4

Overview

When I started this project in 2019, the last thing I expected was that I'd soon be given a new highway to add. Yet, that's exactly what happened when the ribbons were cut to West Virginia Route 108 in December 2023.

At just a hair over 4 kilometres long in its current form, WV 108 has the "honour" of being the shortest primary highway in Mercer County. Its sole feat is to link the east segment of US 52 to WV 123...despite 52 already having a four-lane connection to 123 via US 460. And to let travellers marvel at the amount of dynamite used to blast away all the rock along the way.

History

Hoo boy, where to begin?? Few highways have been touched by as much drama as this one.

WV 108 is touted as being part of a forthcoming "I-73/I-74/I-75" corridor; part of a supposed multi-highway network that would run through six states from Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina if it were built...despite Michigan and Ohio already being adequately covered by roads, and wholely disinterested by the project.

[I-73 map]

(National I-73/I-74/I-75 Corridor Association, 2023)

The idea for a four-lane corridor skirting the southwestern edge of West Virginia from Bluefield to Huntington is not new, and proposals to build one have been floated since the 1970s. K.A. Ammar, a Bluefield department store owner, became an unlikely spokesperson for the road...and thanks to his fervent lobbying, it cleared political hurdles in 1998. Of course this being WV, legislators then insisted in plastering the name of the state's most destructive industry across the highway, which carries forth to this day.

But why is it being built?

Sadly, most of the drumrolling for the King Coal Highway has been dictated by emotion, not logic. "We want a highway to come through our town! To save it!" In its own spiel, the National I-73/I-74/I-75 Corridor Association resorts to justifying itself with vague generalities about "progress and growth" that will "change lives." Treating WV 108 as if it were a panacea that would magically reverse 100 years of shortsighted political decisions and employment decline in one fell swoop. #NotGoingToHappen.

Buried in the bluster about the highway are four tangible benefits:

The first two points are important considerations for a heavily-used highway driven over by overweight coal trucks. The last point is precisely the opposite effect of what was intended. The highway also necessarily bypasses cities such as Bluefield and Welch along the route, which does nothing to ensure the patronization of local businesses by through traffic.

Estimated costs for the project totalled $1.4 billion in 2004 dollars, roughly equivalent to US$2.4 billion today.

A better solution to ensure the long-term viability of the state would have been to take that money, and resettle and retrain the entire populace of the affected five-county area. Or implement Universal Basic Income. But no one asked me...

In early publicity, the King Coal Highway was touted as carrying Interstate 73...then when it became obvious that the local segments wouldn't be built to controlled-access standards, it was "demoted" to becoming a relocation of US 52. As far as I know, these plans are still in effect...which means that WV 108 may prove to be a temporary designation, similar to WV 290 in the 1970s.

The first phase of construction began in 2000, and consisted of upgrading the US 52-US 460 intersection east of Bluefield from a simple T-junction to a grade-separated partial cloverleaf. Roadmaking continued in fits and starts for the next nine years, seemingly at the rate of one centimetre a day.

The Christine West Bridge was erected over the East River valley in 2009...just in time for funding to run dry, leaving the massive construct sitting there wanting, carrying no traffic but the birds. Over a decade would pass before construction would resume.

In 2019-2023, WVDOT crews managed to work their way through Stony Ridge and Hurricane Ridge...adding two kilometres for all the effort. Still, it was enough to reach the next available crossroad and install a stop sign. Clearly, they're not expecting massive amounts of traffic soon.

The entire construction project so far has been cut through extremely unforgiving, almost pointlessly-difficult terrain; a neverending litany of colossal rock cuts and high bridges. Stony Ridge is the site of the most ridiculous element of the road: Construction crews blasted an artificial pass through an enormous mountain; all while US 460 runs through a natural pass in the rock, within eyeshot, half a kilometre away. Why not save the trouble, and just use the existing road?

The number "108" has no significance other than being the lowest three-digit number not taken by any other highway.

[WV 108 photo]

The Christine West "bridge to nowhere," as seen in 2013. (Photo by the author.)

Fractional spur roads

Being a brand-new highway mired in terrain that precludes intersections of any kind, it goes without saying that WV 108 has no spurs.

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©2024 Andrew Turnbull.
Last update 23 October 2024.