CUMBERLAND — A group of proponents of the North/South Appalachian Highway initiative will make a return trip to Washington Wednesday, asking members of the House of Representatives for help with clearing the way for the project to move forward.

The proposed highway would connect U.S. Route 219 in Pennsylvania with Interstate 68 and U.S. Route 220 in Maryland, extending down through West Virginia to connect with the Corridor H highway project now partially completed. Colleen Peterson, executive director of The Greater Cumberland Committee, said the goal of Wednesday’s trip is to emphasize one message about a small but critical piece of the project.

“We’re focusing on something very specific — allowing states to once again use their toll credits as a state match for building Appalachian Development Highway System roads,” Peterson said. “That’s critical for the U.S. 219 portion of the project, in Pennsylvania.”

States earn toll credits when they spend money on improvements to toll roads. At one time, those credits could be used as matching funds with federal dollars to pay for highway projects, like the North/South Appalachian Highway. That provision was removed in the last federal transportation bill.

Peterson said reinstating the use of toll credits would open the door for Pennsylvania to begin work on U.S. 219. Maryland has funding ready for its portion of the highway corridor, she said.

“If we’re really going to maximize the economic benefit of this project, we need all three states on track,” Peterson said.

Peterson will be joined on the trip by David Moe of the Garrett County Development Corporation; Kim Leonard, president of Aircon Engineering; Mona Ridder, executive director of the Mineral County Development Authority, Wayne Spiggle, president of the Mineral County Commission, Keith Funkhouser of ATK, Henry Cook, president of Somerset Trust Co., Somerset County Commissioner John Vatavuk and Ed Silvetti, executive director of the Southern Alleghenies Planning & Development Commission.

An almost identical group made a similar journey to Washington in November, speaking then to all six senators from the three affected states on the problem of toll credits. Peterson said they’ve also secured letters of support from the governors of all three states.

According to Ridder, the current project plan estimates actual construction beginning in 2016. But she cautioned that many time-consuming steps remain in the process, including determining the exact path of the highway and conducting environmental and other impact studies.

Some of those steps could require a year or more to complete, Ridder said.

Another major transportation project in Mineral County should be completed much sooner. Construction —in the form of building demolition — could start as early as March on the Keyser Memorial Bridge replacement, according to Lee Thorne, district manager for the West Virginia Department of Highways. The project is expected to be finished in November 2012.

The new span over the Potomac River between Keyser, W.Va., and McCoole, will be placed a short distance from the current bridge’s location, a move that requires the demolition of more than a dozen buildings. Thorne said that demolition will be one of the first visible phases of the project.

“We haven’t issued notice to proceed yet on the bridge project, but we’ll probably do that in March,” Thorne said. “People will start seeing activity shortly thereafter.”

The bridge work will be handled by the St. Albans, W.Va., firm Ahern & Associates Inc., the lowest bidder at $23,412,800.

Work has already begun on a preliminary phase of the project, relocating a sewer lift and pumping station in McCoole that stands where the new bridge is going to be placed. That work is being handled by Bear Contracting and should be completed sometime in July.

One of the buildings facing demolition to make way for the bridge is the Keyser Volunteer Fire Department, which will relocate to a brand-new facility on West Piedmont Street.

Chris Paitsel of the department told the city council at a January meeting that construction of new fire hall is expected to begin in April. The building design calls for a one-story, six-bay brick-and-block structure that will house administrative offices, a training room, a lounge, laundry facilities, a kitchen, a radio room and locker rooms.

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