The Shawnee Expressway is a proposed 23 miles (37 km) two-lane arterial highway. The highway, should it be constructed, will run through McDowell

McDowell County, West Virginia

McDowell County is a county in the U.S. state of West Virginia. The land that became McDowell was originally part of Tazewell County, Virginia. As of the 2010 census, the population was 22,113. Its county seat is Welch. McDowell county is the southern-most county in the state, geographically...

, Wyoming

Wyoming County, West Virginia

Wyoming County is a county located in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2010 census, the population was 23,796. Its county seat is Pineville. Wyoming County was created in 1850 from Logan County and named for the Delaware Indian word meaning "large plains."-Geography:According to the U.S...

, Mercer

Mercer County, West Virginia

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, and Raleigh

Raleigh County, West Virginia

As of the census of 2000, there were 79,220 people, 31,793 households, and 22,096 families residing in the county. The population density was 130 people per square mile . There were 35,678 housing units at an average density of 59 per square mile...

 counties in southwest West Virginia

West Virginia

West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...

. The proposed termini of the expressway will be at the Ghent

Ghent, West Virginia

Ghent is an unincorporated census-designated place in Raleigh County in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2010 census, its population was 457....

 interchange along Interstate 77

Interstate 77

Interstate 77 is an Interstate Highway in the eastern United States. It traverses diverse terrain, from the mountainous state of West Virginia to the rolling farmlands of North Carolina and Ohio. It largely supplants the old U.S...

 (West Virginia Turnpike

West Virginia Turnpike

The West Virginia Turnpike is a toll road in the US state of West Virginia. It is also signed as Interstate 77 for its entire length as well as Interstate 64 from Charleston to just south of Beckley. From Beckley, the road extends south to Princeton...

) in the east and at the planned King Coal Highway (relocated U.S. Route 52

U.S. Route 52 in West Virginia

U.S. Route 52 skirts the western fringes of the U.S. state of West Virginia. It runs from the Virginia state line near Bluefield, where it is concurrent with Interstate 77, in a general northwest and north direction to Interstate 64 at Kenova...

) near Ashland

Ashland, West Virginia

Ashland is an unincorporated community located in McDowell County, West Virginia, United States. Located on the headwaters of the North Fork of Elkhorn Creek, it is also the location of the national historic Ashland Company Store and the Ashland Trailhead for the Indian Ridge Trail, a part of the...

.

The Shawnee Expressway was identified as a High Priority Corridor in the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (ISTEA). The study area , consisting of CR 11 and CR 14 in Mercer County, and CR 16/6 and CR 16/2 in Wyoming County, features extensive no-passing zones, narrow roadway widths, non-existent shoulders, sharp horizontal curves, steep vertical grades, and substandard pavement materials for a heavy traffic load. As a result, the level of service along the routes within the study area range from B to E.