West Virginia Route 972 was a short north–south

state highway A state highway, state road, or state route (and the equivalent provincial highway, provincial road, or provincial route) is usually a road that is either ''numbered'' or ''maintained'' by a sub-national state or province. A road numbered by a ...

Mineral County, West Virginia Mineral County is a county in the U.S. state of West Virginia. It is part of the Cumberland, MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2020 census, the population was 26,938. Its county seat is Keyser. The county was founded in 1866. Hi ...

. It was decommissioned in July 2017, becoming an extension of

WV 93 West Virginia Route 93 is an east–west state highway located in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia. WV 93 runs from U.S. Route 48 and West Virginia Route 32 in Davis in Tucker County to U.S. Route 220 near Keyser in Mineral County. R ...

. The route connected

U.S. Route 220 U.S. Route 220 (US 220) is a spur route of US 20. It runs in a north–south layout in the eastern United States, unlike its parent route as well as conventionally even-numbered highways which run east-west. US 220 extends for f ...

U.S. Route 50 U.S. Route 50 or U.S. Highway 50 (US 50) is a major east–west route of the U.S. Highway system, stretching from Interstate 80 (I-80) in West Sacramento, California, to Maryland Route 528 (MD 528) in Ocean City, Maryland, on the Atlanti ...

in the

New Creek New Creek is an U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed August 15, 2011 stream in eastern West Virginia, United States. It is the third major West Virginia tributary to the North ...

Valley.

New Creek, West Virginia New Creek is an unincorporated community in Mineral County, West Virginia, United States. It lies near the intersection of New Creek and U.S. Route 50, and is south of Keyser. The ZIP code for New Creek is 26743. During the Civil War, this co ...

, the only populated place on the route, is located midway between US 50 and US 220. Route 972 was the highest numbered road in the state of West Virginia. Prior to 1972, WV 972 was part of US 220. In 1972, US 220 was moved to its present alignment east of New Creek.

Route description

Route 972 began at the New Creek Wye in the community of Claysville, West Virginia at an intersection with

. The highway progressed to the northeast, crossing through residences to the west and forests to the east, crossing Del Signore Farm Road and passing the New Creek School. Route 972 continued through the residences along the nearby mountainside, entering the community of

after an intersection with Kings Run Road. The highway continued northward through New Creek, passing through the downtown farmland and continued its northeastern trek through the mountainside. As Route 972 curved to the north, it passed through downtown New Creek's large set of residences before intersecting with Meadowlark Acre Road and terminating at an intersection with U.S. Route 220 (Cut-Off Road).

History

Route 972 was a former alignment of U.S. Route 220 prior to the building of the New Creek Cut-Off, constructed through Keyser before 1943 through the New Creek Valley. In July 2017, the route became part of an extended WV 93.

Major intersections

References

External links

{{Attached KML, display=inline,title
WV Highways – 3 digit highways

972 Year 972 ( CMLXXII) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * Spring – Emperor John I Tzimiskes divides the Bulgarian territories, recent ...

Transportation in Mineral County, West Virginia U.S. Route 220