Feb 27, 2019 2 min read

Motorists traveling today on Interstate 70 between the West Virginia border and Exit 1 (West Alexander) will encounter temporary traffic stoppages and lane shifts on both the eastbound and westbound sides of the interstate to allow state Department of Transportation crews to mill down ripples in the road due to longwall mining. The traffic pattern changes will occur starting at 5 a.m. and last until the milling is complete.

PennDOT spokeswoman Valerie Petersen said the ripples have developed as longwall mining under the highway has caused subsidence. She said that there will be intermittent stoppages for up to 15 minutes and lane shifts to allow all the work to be done while the heavy equipment is in place.

This is the second time that PennDOT has had to restrict traffic to mill down ripples caused by subsidence. Several large cracks and “compression bumps” appeared on the edge of the westbound lanes heading into West Virginia early this month, and traffic moved very slowly through the work zone as road crews milled down the road on Feb. 5.

Crews have been stationed in the area around the clock since the mining started in the area Jan. 29 to be able to immediately address problems. The road had been restricted to a single lane in each direction in advance of the start of mining. The speed limit also has been reduced to 45 mph.

Tunnel Ridge LLC, a mining company based in Ohio County, W.Va., is mining a coal seam that runs under I-70 into West Virginia. The mining is expected to continue for some time, and subsidence can occur for as long as several weeks after coal has been removed from underneath an area. The company plans to mine nine panels under Interstate 70 between now and 2038.