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WV will sign Corridor H as US 48

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Adam Froehlig recently did a scouting roadtrip to check on the status of Corridor H through West Virginia. And according to his blog report, WV has installed US 48 shields on parts of the unopened highway around Moorefield.

"I can confirm that there's a US 48 reassurance shield posted westbound just before the bridge, as well as a distance sign showing mileage to Bismark, Davis, and Elkins."

US 48 will be the designation for Corridor H from I-81 near Strasburg, VA to Interstate 79 in Weston, WV. Currently, Virginia has signed US 48 from I-81 to the state line. How far WV signs US 48 (whether along WV 55 and then on Corridor H and then on various routes to Elkins and along US 33 to Weston) and if it will truncate WV 55 is yet to be seen.
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Brian Powell said…
Given West Virginia's penchant for long useless multiplexes (see current WV 55, WV 28, WV 92, and WV 97 for examples), my guess is that WV 55 will stay as it exists now once US 48 gets extended to this new Corridor H stretch. The only way I see this changing in the near-term would be if VDOT decided to truncate VA 55 back to I-81.

As far as I can tell, the strategy for the current WV 55 routing is to provide a through route from Elkins to Virginia and to connect the Highland Scenic Highway to major access points at US 19 and Elkins. That the entire route is WV 55 is coincidental; it just so happened that both paths end at Elkins so WVDOH just decided to reuse the number.

With that in mind, I wouldn't be surprised if WVDOH cuts WV 55 back to Elkins once the new Corridor H becomes the preferred through routing over US 33/WV 28 between Elkins and Moorefield. That's still a long ways off, though.
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