TUNNELTON – Customers coming to shop at The #4 Store in Tunnelton are facing a dilemma. The state is installing a storm drain, and heavy equipment is taking up a large portion of the store’s parking lot. Owner Dave Biggins said this is resulting in the loss of business and could end with him having to close his business.
He said the contract for the construction work was supposed to be completed by July 2025, and now it has been extended for another six months. He said since the construction started his profit is way down. Biggins said it has been going on for about a year, He said it started with a sewer line from his store to Subway, which is about 500 feet down the road toward Fellowsville. Now, he said, the state is digging up the road to put in a storm drain.
DOH District Manager Earl Gaskins said he understands Biggins concerns about the project, but he said putting in the drain is not an easy job. Gaskins said the town doesn’t have plans or blueprints for all of the old drains they are finding. He said some of the trenches have to go down 20 feet to get to the flow line, something the DOH doesn’t normally have to do.
Although Gaskins said the contractor has made sure customers have access to the business, Biggins said the road is closed in front of the store, he said people wanting to come his store store have to go through the honor roll loop. He said he can only have two cars in his parking lot at a time. Biggins said people slow down, look at his parking lot, and keep going.
“There is no way to put in a storm drain without digging things up,” Gaskins said. “I drove up and met with him (Biggins). We make sure one end or the other of his parking lot is open for customers, but when you are putting in a storm system, it’s very destructive.”
“We don’t run on a high profit,” Biggins said. “Before this started, I was getting gas trucks every four or five days, now its every four or five weeks. Last week, the Pepsi truck slowed down then kept going because it couldn’t get in my parking lot. I don’t want to close my business. I have a lot of good people working for me. But I might have to.”
Tunnelton has had drainage problems for years. From 2018 to 2024, the town and the DOH worked to repair flooding at the Tunnelton Underpass. During heavy rains, flooding occurred in the structure, delaying emergency vehicles and sending local residents several miles out of their way to bypass the problem. It also caused flooding on WV 26. In 2018, the West Virginia Legislature passed House Bill 2984. The bill grants priority to roadway construction, reconstruction and maintenance for roadways prone to recurring floods that hinder ingress and egress. The bill became effective June 1, 2018.
