DAVIS, W.Va. – At Wednesday night’s council meeting, representatives from the West Virginia Department of Highways, Tommy Collins, Jason Foster, and Travis Long, spoke with the Town of Davis about their portion of Corridor H, which is slated to start construction in 2024.

During the meeting, there was some discussion on the design of the interchange, which would be in between Davis and Thomas. The WVDOH representatives explained that they were intending on trying to incorporate some of the character of the town in the design by using an artsy theme and adding a mural.

  • These are some examples of what the interchange between Thomas and Davis might look like
  • These are some examples of what the interchange between Thomas and Davis might look like
  • These are some examples of what the interchange between Thomas and Davis might look like

They noted that when they visited Thomas’s city council meeting the night before, the town had requested a more natural looking interchange, which the representatives said they would look into. Another concern for citizens was being able to bike or walk between the two towns, so they’re looking at ways to add a bike/foot path near the interchange.

The representatives also addressed concerns about light and noise pollution. Light pollution is when there’s too many lights to be able to see the stars at night. This is particularly important for Blackwater Falls, which is currently working on obtaining a Dark Sky certification. They said that they planned to not light the bridge and only light the interchange for safety purposes. At the interchange, they said they will use dome-shaped lights.

The representatives showed a design for the Coketon Bridge, which took inspiration from the New River Gorge. A concern that was brought to the attention of WVDOH was that the bridge might interrupt the view at Lindy Point, but the representatives showed a model of the area which demonstrated that you wouldn’t be able to see it, and they said they planned to do a drone test to make 100% sure.

The view from Lindy Point Overlook in West Virginia’s Blackwater State Park

There were some questions for the representatives about an alternative northern route for Corridor H, but the representatives said that this route is the alignment that they aim to pursue at this time.

The representatives explained that they will come back to future town meetings for further questions and concerns.