Holland Avenue is so bad a man had to pull over and shoot his car as an act of mercy.
That’s probably an exaggeration, but you get the point.
The road is a mess … but changes are coming.
And sooner rather than later.
In the short term, West Virginia Division of Highways District 4 Manager Earl Gaskins said he’s aware of the road’s condition and has already discussed plans to do temporary repairs within a day or so as weather permits.
“WVDOH crews will do all they can to keep the road safe and the impact to the traveling public to a bare minimum,” Gaskins said.
In the longer term, Westover’s long-awaited Holland Avenue project will get underway in early March.
“Right now, from what we understand, the contractors are shooting for it to get started around the first of March,” Westover Mayor Bob Lucci said. “The bids are done, the contractor is in place and the papers are signed. That’s all done. It’s just a matter of time now until they get started.”
As of Friday, the city’s main entrance and thoroughfare was shot through with holes down to the underlying brick.
But beneath the bricks lie the real culprit – water from busted sewer and stormwater lines.
Blue Gold Development will handle the replacement of approximately 2,800 feet of gravity sewer line and 3,000 feet of storm sewer line for $2,958,025. The project will also address the rehabilitation of the Holland Avenue retaining wall.
Once construction begins, it’ll be handled at night, between 7 p.m.- 7 a.m. in order to keep traffic moving during the day.
Then the West Virginia Division of Highways will come in and resurface its road.
Holland Avenue, also known as U.S. Highway 19, hasn’t traditionally gotten a lot of attention from the DOH because of the underlying water issues.
“Once the project is complete, the disturbed areas will receive a full depth repair and the entire area will be resurfaced,” Gaskins said.
Lucci said he knows Holland Avenue is in rough shape, but it’s going to get better.
“The condition of Holland Avenue is a given, but it’s going to be taken care of. I’m not really worried about it. I don’t say that in a bad way like, I don’t care. I’m just being honest. It’s going to be taken care of,” Lucci said. “I’m worried about the holes everywhere else.”
