Corridor H Alternatives, the West Virginia Highlands Conservancy, and our thirteen co-plaintiffs have reached a settlement agreement in federal court with state and federal agencies. The proposed highway will be broken into nine separate projects--some could be built soon, others won't see the bulldozers for years to come and not at all if resistance is successful. The state does not have the money to build even a third of the total now. The battle will continue over each project’s funding and environmental impacts. As a single $1.5 billion project, Corridor H is dead. Here are the important details:

(1) From Kerens to Davis, through the Monongahela National Forest, the highway department (WVDOT) must start all over. It has agreed to study new alignments to avoid Corricks Ford Battlefield, in the valley of the Shavers Fork, and the Blackwater Canyon from Hendricks to Thomas. The environmental impact studies (EIS) will take two years or more.

(2) From just west of Wardensville to the Virginia line, there will be no construction for twenty years, unless Virginia reverses its decision not to build Corridor H to I-81, or traffic increases dramatically on WV 55. The latter exception must meet specific standards. Wardensville will receive $1 million over five years to help it prepare for the transition.

(3) There could be another realignment around Greenland Gap, whose eligibility for increased protection will be decided by the Keeper of the National Register of Historic Places. That process will require further delay.

Altogether, the delays affect close to 40% of the Corridor.

(4) North of Elkins, construction will resume immediately as far as Kerens. Elsewhere, historic-site studies are continuing, but new construction is likely soon from Moorefield over South Branch Mountain to Baker. Those projects can’t be challenged on the issues already decided in court. However, if new issues come up involving other environmental laws or future actions by the highway department, they may be litigated.

(5) This year, WVDOT will study the necessary improvements on US 50 from the Keyser area east, and will publicize its findings and plans. That highway carries much more traffic than the roads to be replaced by Corridor H. It is an obvious rival for the "matching" money the state plans to spend.

(6) Other points covered in the agreement: complete avoidance of Big Run Bog’s watershed; release at last of funds for the rail-trail through Randolph, Tucker, and Grant counties; better enforcement of truck weight limits on US 219 – traffic has increased as truckers avoided the better-policed routes; removal of the "Build-It" signs from highway right-of-way; redesign of an unsafe Corridor H intersection at Kerens; and publication of projected schedules and other information.

From the beginning of this controversy, WVDOT has had a single-minded idea on how to improve transportation in the Highlands region: Just build Corridor H. Our opposing view has recognized many factors, including environmental, historic, economic, and broader transportation issues. In the same way, while they have one view of the settlement, we know it is a complex document.

They say the agreement is all about removing obstacles to construction. However, we settled only the pending litigation. We got as much as we could reasonably expect from our 4(f) lawsuits: protection for the Shavers Fork and Blackwater Canyon areas, further study of Greenland Gap, and breathing space for Wardensville. We held on to the right to sue if necessary over the Kerens-to-Davis environmental impact statements, the outcome at Greenland Gap, the Wardensville delay, and other commitments in the agreement. Issues that come up in the future may be brought to court as well. We specifically reserved the right to sue under the Endangered Species Act.

Delay is built into the agreement, from the EIS preparations in the west to the moratorium in the east. Delay is important to us because it allows time for more reasonable decisions on how to spend our limited tax dollars. Polls we have seen over the past two years show support for our position increasing. The agreement should launch us into new efforts to protect the Highlands.