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SPENCER -- After about 70 years of discussion, Spencer was recently approved to start the project of creating a bypass to make Route 33 toward Spencer more travel friendly.
According to Mark Pauley, director for marketing and development for the city of Spencer, this project has been a long time coming.
"We've heard multiple times that things would happen. Things are materializing finally," he said.
Route 33 serves as the road that runs from I-77 to Spencer. A winding section of the road will be cut out in the area locals know as Scott Miller Hill, close to the Spencer end of the road.
The road will route to a straighter area to avoid so many twists and turns. The new part of the road will be 5 and 1/2 miles off Route 33, Pauley said.
"This hill, Scott Miller Hill, over the years, during bad weather, has unfortunately claimed a lot of lives," Pauley said. "There will be a safer and more business friendly highway and that's what we need."
The bid date is March 24. The project is scheduled to begin in April and run through November 2022.
"That's two years of jobs for our area and all that comes with that. There will be minimal impact with current road travel," Pauley said.
A levy passed in 2017 for the Roads to Prosperity Program to fund the project. The program "comprises a series of funding measures that, over the next several years, are expected to generate approximately $2.8 billion for highway and bridge construction and maintenance all across West Virginia," according to the West Virginia Department of Transportation website.
Thirty million dollars was invested in the project about 20 years ago to obtain the property for the project, Pauley said.
Several community members never thought the bypass construction would ever take place.
"It's a running joke. People literally joke about it saying things like 'yeah that will happen when the Scott Miller bypass happens.' (They) didn't take it seriously for the longest time," Pauley said.
Gov. Jim Justice pushed for the project to be underway after all this time.
"Governor Justice has made it a focus of his to fix roads. It's something he talks about frequently. He was very in favor of this project and instrumental in making this happen," Pauley said.
Community members have mixed feelings about the project, Pauley said, but he feels it's a good move for the county.
"It's a big win for the county and what we have to offer," he said.
Candice Black can be reached at cblack@newsandsentinel.com.