More Details on the Coalfields Expressway Plan

The Richmond Times-Dispatch has scrounged up details on the revised plan for building the proposed 51-mile Coalfield Expressway in Virginia's far Southwest. The new plan would save "as much as half" the project's estimated $2.3 billion cost by mining coal along its route. But the coal companies want to change the route's alignment to a corridor that would access more recoverable coal.

I've argued that the SW Virginia could do more to improve its accessibility to the outside world by wiring the region's small towns -- the route would run through Grundy, Clintwood and Pound -- with wireless broadband infrastructure. But if local citizens are determined to build the darn road, any proposal that would cut the cost in half needs to be seriously considered.

Of course, changing the route would render useless the $32 million spent so far on engineering work for the old route. What a waste.