Located in the south-central part of the state, Raleigh County in West Virginia has a population of approximately 75,000. The county has seen an increase in commercial development, primarily in the Beckley area. The neighboring counties are primarily rural. In response to growth in the area and current traffic congestion, the West Virginia Department of Transportation (WVDOT) is constructing a new stretch of highway that will be known as Beckley Z-Way.
The 5.5-mile stretch of highway will serve as a major West Virginia thoroughfare, extending from Shady Spring to Beaver and into Beckley. According to WVDOT’s project website, the “yearslong project is aimed at alleviating commuter frustrations and offering a connectivity plan for all.”
"Traffic congestion occurs regularly along U.S. 19, created by rush hour morning/evening commuters," said Josh Howell, District 10 Construction Engineer for WVDOT. "This project being in a highly residential area, ... there are several public schools and students [that] are affected by the congestion."
The project includes multiple steps to relieve left-turners and to reduce congestion in response to the platooning of travelers along U.S. 19, who are held up at congested intersections. The steps include:
- The addition of a third lane (two-way left-turn lane)
- Construction of traffic signals at the warranted intersections
- A direct connection to I-64 and the U.S. 19 Bypass
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WVDOT also believes the project will reduce dangerous accidents, as the congested intersections will have signals.
In addition to widening existing U.S. 19 to a three-lane section for a few miles, traffic will ultimately divert to a newly constructed roadway that will bridge over WV 307 (Airport Road) and tie into the U.S. 19 Beckley Bypass at Exit 124 along I-64.
The average daily traffic within project limits was 16,000 in 2024. Local commuters between the Ghent and Beckley areas are expected to be the main users of the Beckley Z-Way. Currently, travelers use either U.S. 19 in its current condition or I-77.
WVDOT broke the massive Beckley Z-Way construction into separate projects. In addition to the size factor, Howell noted that separating the project into two separate contracts is due to the nature of each contract.
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"One contract consists of a newly constructed, large earthwork project with a major precast concrete drainage structure, while the other contract is primarily a roadway widening project,” he said. “The scope of work between the two contracts are as varying as the size of equipment needed on site [for] each project."
The projects have separate teams and different general contractors. Mountaineer Contractors won section one, the Shady Spring to Beaver contract. The Kanawha Stone Company (KSC) won section two, the Beaver to Eisenhower contract.
"It is important to acquire the correct contractor for each project due to the two very different types of contract work released," Howell said.
Both contractors have worked with the state before. Kanawha has partnered with the state in the past on various earthmoving projects.
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"Mountaineer Contractors have also handled many prior contracts with the Division of Highways, but they have never had a job awarded to this scale," Howell said.
Due to the mountainous terrain of West Virginia, the Beckley Z-Way project includes significant earthworks. The earthwork contract has nearly 2 million cubic yards of excavation. The road widening project consists of approximately 200,000 cubic yards of excavation.
"Both contractors have privately acquired an offsite waste area that is adjacent to the project for all wasted spoil material," Howell said.
So far, the teams' primary challenge has been handling the large number of utilities in the area.
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“The Beaver to Eisenhower contract included the relocation of overhead utilities, a 66-inch sewer main, a 16-inch water line, and a 24-inch water line,” Howell said. “The Shady Spring to Beaver widening contract has a 3.6-mile stretch of adjacent 14-inch water main, 8-inch sewer line, gas lines, and all overhead power/communications utilities that all require relocation before roadway widening.”
Section one includes the construction of piling walls and upgraded precast drainage structures. WVDOT anticipated that utility conflicts would heavily impact the project and took action in advance to mitigate them.
"As the Construction Engineer for the district, I acquired a supplemental contract with a construction inspection consultant [The Thrasher Group] to work directly with the District Utilities department under my supervision," Howell said.
The team also strongly encouraged the utility companies to start their relocation process as early as possible. The goal was to relocate the utilities before awarding the project.
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However, WVDOT pulled back the section one contract and re-bid it to include the waterline as a part of the contractor's responsibility to install. This was in conjunction with the sanitary sewer relocation to be contractor-installed per plan.
"Once the Shady to Beaver project began, despite the consistent efforts and weekly utility meetings, the contractor was quickly overwhelmed by the inability to relocate water and sewer mains that are critical to the roadway widening process," Howell said.
Relocating the utilities in the area is challenging. The area where the team wanted to relocate the water, sewer, and gas lines was occupied by overhead utility corridors. Another wrinkle is the gradual process of having new utility poles set, occupied, and the old poles removed.
"In this area, most poles were occupied by a minimum of four separate companies, with some having old coaxial lines in conjunction with upgraded fiber optic lines," Howell said. "All the lines had to be moved independently and coordinated with each respective company."
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For the section one contract, WVDOT idled the portion of the project for roadway widening, but the team is continuing to relocate utilities and install water and sanitary sewer lines.
On section two, overhead utilities caused some slight initial delays but were less invasive to the project area. However, the team has faced other challenges centering around the 24-inch water main.
"The water main had major constructability issues per the plans that were provided to the Division [of Highways]," Howell said.
The water main is essential, as it directly serves a regional jail, multiple businesses, public schools, and another Public Service District that provides water to many other outlets. Keeping it operational while completing the relocation was a challenge.
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The team is currently focused on relocating the 66-inch sewer main.
"Early in the contract, progression on the foundation for [a] precast arch culvert was found to have some differing site conditions and required a revised engineering plan to ensure the foundation was constructed on bedrock," Howell said.
"This arch culvert is significant in size [156 feet long, 53 feet wide, and 26 feet tall], as it is the newly proposed drainageway for relocated Beaver Creek within the structure and the travel way for the new Z-Way road alignment on top," Howell added.
Kanawha Stone Company and Mountaineer Contractors are experienced in-state contractors that employ local talent.
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"The level of details to which Kanawha can discuss this project on site shows their knowledge of these types of contracts and their willingness to study and comprehend the engineered plans," Howell said. "KSC will propose reasonable and good-partnership changes when issues arise on site."
Howell also said that Mountaineer Contractors has been “willing to work out of phase to complete the critical water and sewer line portions of the project, all while awaiting the moving of the overhead utilities."
The construction budget for the entire project is $111 million. Section one is a tick below $54 million, while section two is nearly $57 million. The sale of turnpike bonds has been the primary source of funding, with the state kicking in some other funds as well. The federal government is contributing 10 percent of the financing.
Currently, each project is over budget by about $1.5 million.
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"The main reason for the increased budget [on section one] is the initial maintenance repairs and the required asphalt overlay to the existing paved surface," Howell said. "Utility conflicts have also caused major delays that will become compensable in the future."
According to Howell, section two is over budget due to costs related to the utility conflicts and changing site conditions beneath the precast arch culvert.
These issues have also impacted the schedule. Begun in spring 2024, the projects were scheduled to conclude in 2028.
"Both projects were put to bid and awarded to the contractors before the utilities were relocated," Howell said. "Working around, waiting for relocated utilities have caused many delays to the construction efforts on both contracts."
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Both contractors have changed their planned construction phasing to mitigate inefficiencies.
When the Beckley Z-Way project is complete, it will provide a direct line of travel into the increasingly congested areas that have seen much growth in recent years and will allow access to the heart of Raleigh County's commercial business area. Commuters in the region will also experience more efficient and safer travel.
- Owner: West Virginia Department of Transportation
- General Contractor: Mountaineer Contractors, Kingwood, West Virginia; Kanawha Stone Company, Nitro, West Virginia
- Designer: L.A. Gates Company, Beckley, West Virginia
- Other Contractors: Rock Forge Bridge Co., Newton, West Virginia; West Virginia Paving, Dunbar, West Virginia; RDR, Clarksburg, West Virginia; Central Carolina Seeding, Lexington, North Carolina
