BUCKHANNON – The project to demolish properties at 12 Chancery Street, 6 Chancery Street and 18 South Locust Street in Buckhannon began Monday and is expected to be complete by the end of next week.

The Upshur County Commission hired Reclaim from Fairmont to demolish the properties during a January commission meeting.

Upshur County Commission president Sam Nolte said the company anticipates wrapping up the demolition by the end of this week and completing the hauling process to remove the debris by the end of next week.

“That’s just an estimate. It’s weather-dependent, but rain probably wouldn’t hurt the project at this point — it might actually keep the dust down,” Nolte said. “I think the traffic is unaffected now, they only had the flaggers out there for one day.”

In the short term, the commission plans to lay gravel at each site to create parking for courthouse employees and citizens. Eventually, the commission hopes to work with the state to widen Route 20 in that area.

“We’ve been in communication with the Department of Highways,” Nolte said. “Route 20 is the main route that runs through Buckhannon, so having the ability to widen the road and lengthen the third lane [at the stoplight] will make traffic flow better in the future. That’s probably still a year and a half out, but getting the buildings down is the first step.”