Drivers and residents in Moundsville will get some relief from road construction in the coming weeks, as a major paving project on Lafayette Avenue/W.Va. 2 soon will be completed.
Work began on the 1.5-mile stretch of road last summer as crews worked to improve the structural integrity of the pavement by cutting out large sections and replacing them with steel supports and new asphalt. According to West Virginia Department of Transportation spokesman Brent Walker, crews focused on areas of the road that had obvious stress issues, large crack and potholes instead of replacing the entire stretch of roadway. Additionally, curbs were replaced and new sewer drains were installed to allow for better drainage.
The project was originally scheduled for completion last October, but additions to the scope of work and the winter weather pushed that work back until this spring. Crews returned to the roadway in April, closing one lane in each direction to check the spots that had been repaired last summer.
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Photo by J.W. Johnson Jr.
A large section of W.Va. 2/Lafayette Avenue in Moundsville has been repaved as crews continue to work on the 1.5-mile stretch of roadway. Officials said the project will be completed by mid-June.
Workers began putting down new blacktop, starting at the north end of the roadway and making their way south. They also put new blacktop on many of the side streets off of the roadway to fit with the newly installed curbs. Roughly half of the work remains to be completed, and Walker said crews should be finished by the second week of June.
"They got a late start because of some delays and postponements, but they should be finishing up soon," he said.
The completion of that project will ease the heavy traffic at the 12th Street intersection, where bridge traffic has been reduced to one lane as crews work to strip and repaint the span. That project will be completed later this summer.
