$60M Spent In Road Repairs
Wheeling Intelligencer
23 October 2011
By Casey Junkins, Staff Writer
WHEELING - Chesapeake Energy is spending $60 million to $70
million to resurface 83 miles of roads in West Virginia's Northern
Panhandle, much to the delight of Lloyd Adams.
"Chesapeake stepped up big time. They are spending millions to
pave roads," said Adams, maintenance engineer for the West
Virginia Division of Highways District 6.
Chesapeake has either completed or is in the process of finishing
repairs on the following roads, several of which were not
scheduled for resurfacing by the highway department anytime soon:
- Ohio County - Dallas Pike Road, Atkinson Crossing,
GC&P Road, Middle Wheeling Creek Road, Short Long Run,
Stone Church Road, Oklahoma Road, Gashell Run;
- Brooke County - W.Va. 88, Brady's Ridge, Locust Grove,
Camp Run, Rabbit Hill, W.Va. 67 (Bethany Pike), Apple Pie
Ridge;
- Marshall County - Walnut Grove, Greenfield Ridge, W.Va.
89, Fork Ridge;
- Wetzel County - Macedonia Road, St. Joseph Road, W.Va. 89
and Brock Ridge.
Some of these roads also see considerable traffic from coal
trucks.
Bob Whipp, a retired West Virginia DOH supervisor and district
engineer, now serves as Chesapeake's director of corporate
development for transportation and infrastructure.
He said almost all of these repairs are complete, with a few still
in progress.
"Macedonia Road will be partially completed this year; Route 89
will have base failure repairs this year; Fork Ridge will only
have repairs; Stone Church Road was patched and some sections
received overlay; Oklahoma Road was maintained as stone; ... and
Apple Pie Ridge is being maintained," he said.
With the ongoing repairs, Whipp said detours and delays are an
issue with some motorists.
"We do appreciate their patience because, by doing these upgrades
and repairs now, we expect to have less damage and fewer repairs
in the future. And in many cases, the roads will be in better
condition than when we arrived," he said.
Whipp said Chesapeake plans to keep contractors in place to
perform repairs and maintenance throughout the winter months.
"The biggest challenge we encountered was the availability of
contractors," Whipp said. "Because we brought on an engineering
consulting firm later in the winter (of last year), we weren't
able to get the roads evaluated and repairs designed and out to
contract before many of the contractors had filled their
schedules. This led to some delays and the inability to complete
some of the planned work this year."
Chesapeake takes a "proactive" approach to keeping the roads it
uses in safe working condition, Whipp noted.
"Also, because we do have an engineering consulting firm that
reviews all of the roads we use throughout the Northern Panhandle,
we are able to dedicate contractors to year-round maintenance," he
said.
Whipp also said Chesapeake is negotiating with other companies,
though he did not name which ones, to help share the cost of
paving the roads they use in tandem.
Adams said Consol and its subsidiary, CNX Gas Corp., are spending
about $3 million each to repair roads on which the companies
operate natural gas and coal extraction facilities, such as the
Shoemaker and McElroy mines.