by Kate Shunney
The four-lane, 3.4-mile section of the U.S. 522 Bypass won’t open to vehicle traffic until May, predict West Virginia state officials.
Division of Highways officials told a gathering of business leaders at last month’s Chamber of Commerce lunch that a misalignment of guardrails with overpass wing walls need to be reconfigured and repaved before the bypass can open. That will be done on the portion of the bypass which crosses above Martinsburg Road. During construction of that overpass, the original wing walls showed signs of non-structural cracking and were torn down, with new walls built in their place. 
John Burns, Construction Engineer for District 5 of the DOH, said the timing of the work would depend somewhat on the opening of the plants that provide material for highway paving. He predicted it could be done in May.
Burns also predicted that the northern portion of the bypass – the section that will connect the bypass back to U.S. 522 near the Sandmine – would be completed no sooner than 2027.
Until then, northbound traffic that enters the bypass on the southern end of Berkeley Springs near Winchester Grade Road will have to exit the bypass before it dead-ends just past Fairfax Street in order to keep going north.
Those vehicles exiting the bypass will have the option to go into downtown Berkeley Springs to reconnect with northbound U.S. 522 or to take an exit toward Martinsburg Road to travel on eastbound WV-9.
Burns said larger trucks would be informed by signage that they should exit the bypass before the end. He also noted many larger trucks don’t heed such signs around the district.
