Old Coal Road to be Fixed

An old abandoned coal road in Muskingum County will finally see improvements.

After months of negotiation, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Mines and Westmoreland Coal agreed to turn a portion of Church Hill Road back over to the county. Muskingum County Engineer, Doug Davis, said a plan is in place for the county to vacate the road and then replace it with a new one for public use.

“They want to vacate part of the existing county road, improve that it was very narrow, very winding, very hilly, unsafe, they want to vacate portions of the existing public road that they mine through and replace it with a haul road, it’s actually going to be called haul, and Haul Road will become a county road, so we have to do a road vacation and a road dedication,” Davis said.

The road has been abandoned for years after the coal company stopped mining in the area, causing major problems for property owners. Davis said they plan on building the new road up to county standards, complete with cul de sacs to make it easier for emergency access vehicles and snow plows to maneuver.

“The ODNR would be happy, it runs through the ODNR property, there will be access to it, limited access to it through certain parking areas of the ODNR property, oil and gas people can still get to their wells, there will be easements, the landowners then will have cul de sacs on the existing roadways that are being terminated so again you can turn around,” Davis said.

A final blueprint for the project is expected to be completed by November 5.