Future U.S. Route 52 South Bridge over East River | road bridge, 2009_construction

 road bridge, 2009_construction

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This bridge will carry southbound U.S. Route 52 over U.S. Route 19 / 52 Truck (Chicory Road), West Virginia Route 112 (Countrygirl Road), East River, County Route 25 (Old Princeton Road), and the Norfolk Southern railway in the future. It is a five span, steel beam bridge with concrete deck built in 2009. It is a part of the planned reconstruction of US-52 as the limited access King Coal Highway bypassing Bluefield. Although these two bridges were completed in 2009, plans to construct the next segment of the King Coal Highway were delayed. The bridges have sat unused for over 12 years as "bridges to nowhere". Construction on the next segment of Route 52 began in 2019 and the bridge is expected to open in the near future.