KINGWOOD — Preston County Commissioner Dave Price said Tuesday there’s still no definite date on when a slide on W.Va. 72 will be repaired.
Price said that Larry Weaver of the State Division of Highways (DOH) told him that federal highways people have reviewed the site and engineering is being done to see what is needed to fix it. Core borings are needed before the design for repairs can be done, Price said.
Weaver, “said ‘I kept hearing that it would be 2019 before it was repaired, but it will be soon as the process allows,’” Price said. “The core borings should happen very soon. It’s a process that will be done as quickly as possible. So he’s saying they’re right at close to boring, and then they’re going to fix it no matter what.”
A portion of one lane of the highway along the Cheat River fell away earlier this year, during heavy rains. The state has applied for federal disaster funding to repair the area.
Commission President Craig Jennings wondered when so many highways got a federal designation, requiring more hoops to be jumped through before repairing them. When he first became a commissioner, Jennings said, “they would have dumped some rock over the hill there and kept it from,” eroding further, then come back to see what was needed for a permanent fix.
“I don’t understand why they let it get to just totally to disrepair before we start,” repairing, Jennings said.
Price said Salt Lick Road was also washed out in the February storm. He has heard that FEMA has looked twice at the road, Price said. There was no word on when those repairs would begin.
Price said he also contacted Congressman David McKinley’s office about the roads, but they knew no more than he does.
Also at the meeting, commissioners declared October as Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Shelly Moreland told commissioners than between October 2017 and Oct. 3 this year, 208 emergency protective orders had been issued by Preston County Magistrate Court.
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