Submitted by Dave Stemple
Tucker County Connections
The photo with this one is taken from http://wvcorridorh.com/press/ProgressContinuesAlongCorridorH.pdf
The completion of Corridor H is a hot topic for almost every local official, but what does the completion of Corridor H actually mean for the small city of Parsons?
Many politicians will tout the fact that completion of this interstate will open up our area to more business, easier access, and a huge influx of tourism.
With the current uncompleted layout of the interstate Parsons enjoys a unique situation where every car traveling Corridor H has to disembark at Davis and drive through Parsons to once again jump on the interstate at Kerens. The current arrangement means most motorists don’t have a choice when it comes to driving through our downtown, seeing local shops, and being able to stop if they see something they like. With the completion of Corridor H motorists traveling the interstate will gain the ability to simply fly past Parsons without a second thought.
While the interstate will clearly offer help to some local businesses such as Kingsford who depend on freight and trucking to sustain business, without much in the way of tourist attractions the city of Parsons could find the wool pulled out from under them in the long haul. While the improvements made in Parsons over recent years are undeniable with events like Pickin’ in Parsons garnering national attention and showing yearly growth the question still boils down to will Parsons have enough tourism draw to pull travelers from the highway year round and turn them into local patrons.
While I’ve previously written on the improvements taking place in Parsons and the bright future if current improvements continue, Corridor H is the one major wild card that could make or break my assessment. I feel that while Parsons has come a long way it still needs to work on gaining more tourist appeal to help fill out the exit signs before the interstate is completed and the bypass option is given to motorists. In this race against construction it remains to be seen if Parsons will manage to fully capitalize on it’s Civil War significance, beautiful camping, hunting, and outdoor recreation potential, and small town appeal to help make and solidify its claim as a West Virginia tourist destination.
