Barriers planned for Wayne County

HUNTINGTON -- The cable barriers win praise in Milton, Barboursville and Huntington, but they have not been installed in northern Wayne County and a six-mile stretch of Interstate 64 east of Milton.

But some of that is about to change.

Ed Armbruster, assistant district maintenance engineer for the state Division of Highways, said cable barriers should be installed next year between the 17th Street West exit and the Kentucky-West Virginia state line. Construction is tentatively scheduled for April to June.

In February, Ceredo Police Chief Jack Butcher said the lack of barriers allowed a utility truck to cross the median at the 2.5-mile marker.

Armbruster said he supports the Wayne County project based upon the cable's history elsewhere. The state and other agencies credit cable barriers with dramatically decreasing the number of crossover accidents in Cabell County.

"It is a very good solution, and I am sure it has saved many lives," he said.

Cindy Cramer, a traffic safety engineer for the state, estimates cable barriers stretch across 70 miles of interstate in West Virginia. There state has another 30 miles of projects under design, but those plans do not include the installation of barriers along a six-mile stretch of interstate east of Milton.

Milton Police Chief Gregg Mullins said he believes a cable barrier could have prevented a serious accident in July. That is when a man was injured after his vehicle crossed the median near the Putnam-Cabell county line, hit an oncoming tractor-trailer and the force of that impact threw him back into the median.

"So far we've been lucky that we have not had anything worse," he said.

The west end of Mullins' jurisdiction is protected by cable barriers.