By Richard Kerns
rkerns@newstribune.info
Tribune Staff Writer

KEYSER – A retired West Virginia Division of Highways official is organizing support for a public and legislative effort to remove a hazardous turn on Route 46 just west of Keyser.
John Lusk, who retired from state employment in February, worked throughout his career to have the narrow, elevated section of road near the CSX “Z Tower” flattened and straightened to improve the safety of the road. Now a private citizen, he can take the issue to another level by spearheading a lobbying campaign to pressure Charleston to fund the project. “This has been one of my priorities for many years,” Lusk said.
On Friday afternoon Lusk assembled representatives of Keyser and Piedmont, as well as officials from the Division of Highways, who met at the site to look at the road and review plans that had been drawn up nearly two-decades ago to resolve the problem.
The turn in question is vary narrow, with the sheer cliff of Green Mountain rising hard against the eastbound lane, and a sheer dropoff to CSX property just off the westbound lane. Adding to the dangerous mix of traffic conditions, the road peaks at its narrowest point, so that oncoming traffic is blocked from view.
Keyser Councilman Dave Sowers, who attended with Councilman Ed Miller, said the road is inherently dangerous. “I cringe every time I go over that hump, there’s just nowhere to go,” he said. “That’s an accident waiting to happen.”
From Piedmont, Mayor Ebbie Gilmore and Councilman Bob Fike were in attendance at the site Friday. Fike echoed Sowers’ concerns, saying the crest of the rise, where the road is narrowest, can barely accommodate two cars. “You might be able to get a piece of paper between them,” he said.
According to state figures, 1,400 cars traverse that section of Route 46 each day, traveling between Keyser and Piedmont. Sowers and Fike said their communities strongly support efforts to resolve the problem. “That’s a no-brainer,” Fike said.
The blueprints the group reviewed date from the improvement project that was completed in the early 1990s, just to the west of the bad turn. That project, which resolved a longstanding drainage problem that often forced closure of the road, was to have included a change order allowing the turn to be eliminated, but for unknown reasons, the add-on work never occurred.
“I just wish they would have taken it out at the same time they did that work,” Fike said.
J. Lee Thorne, acting District Engineer for Mineral County, said guardrails off the west-bound lane – one option being advanced by some county officials – are “not feasible.” The bank at that section of road drops away steeply, and is eroding further. “You‘ve got to have something to sink them into,” he said.
Thorne said the Division of Highways recognizes the need for the turn to be improved, but funding would have to be provided by the state to complete a project of that size. “There’s a limited amount of money,” he said. “You’re competing with priorities around the state.”
Thorne also noted that the site, while hazardous, has not generated that many accidents. When state officials prioritize projects, he said, areas with a high number of severe accidents usually take precedence.
Lusk recognized the calculation behind such studies from his many years in the Division of Highways. “It’s going to take someone getting killed, and it shouldn’t have to come to that,” he said. “That’s my whole point.”
Lusk plans to present the project to local officials prioritizing initiatives for Mineral County Day in Charleston. He hopes to line up support not only from Keyser and Piedmont officials, but from state delegates and senators as well.