Coal and land companies signed an agreement with federal and state officials this week for construction of another five miles of the King Coal Highway, planned to connect Interstates 64 and 77 through the heart of West Virginia coal-mining country. The road and the intersecting Coalfields Expressway, which would run through Virginia and West Virginia, are to be built in conjunction with surface coal mining, with reclamation preparing a route for the roads.
West Virginia Transportation Secretary Paul Mattox said at the signing in Williamson that the deal with Consol Energy and Cotiga Development Co. would save taxpayers $110 million on the section in Mingo County. "Typical drain and grade projects in southern West Virginia may cost as much as $25 million per mile," he said. For an earlier Rural Blog item on the concept, click here.
Kyle Lovern of The Boone Standard reports that the deal "calls for Consol Energy to develop a long-range plan for its Millers Creek operation, which calls for mining to continue in the Belo and Delbarton areas of Mingo County. Part of that plan was identified as the Buffalo Mountain Surface Mine project, which after the coal is extracted, the company will construct the land to rough grade, a section of what will become the King Coal Highway." (Read more)
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