MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Monongalia County commissioners approved a request through the Orphan Road Grant Program and the county park system received a statewide award Wednesday.
The commission created the Orphan Road Program in 2021 to address areas in the county with roads built decades ago that are failing now with no funding mechanism to fund the repairs. Residents along Bridge Road and Pinecrest Road were the first to apply to the program and residents on Alpine Street on the edge of city limits near Mon General Hospital will be the third.
The commission approve $82,400 for the project that is expected to cost about $92,000.
“It’s one of the worst roads I’ve seen in the county,” Arnett said. “It is one that was abandoned decades ago by the developer and it is basically impassable and there are nurses that live on that road that have a hard time getting to work.”
Typically the commission asks for a 50-percent match from each community, but in this case the commission was flexible because of the location and poor condition of the road.
“The commission is committed to exploring options such as county-wide land use and subdivision regulations to help address these issues in the future,” Sikora said. ” The orphan road problem is real and it’s not going to fix itself so that’s why we developed this program.”
The first proposal received by the commission was just an asphalt overlay of the area. Commissioners directed them to get pricing and design for work that would also address drainage issues to increase the life of the pavement.
The community has been working with the commission since 2021 and six households plan to contribute $1,500 each and pay for the engineering services. Bridge Road residents paid approximately $967 each and in the much more densely populated of Pinecrest Road those residents paid about $136, according to Commission President Sean Sikora.
“This revised proposal, though more expensive fixes the problem a little more long term than just slapping a coat of asphalt on an already bad problem,” Sikora said.
As part of the program, this does not mean the county will maintain the road going forward. Future Maintenance will be the responsibility of the home owners association.
“Being right in the middle of the city almost and so close to a hospital in winter it would be impossible to get emergency or trash vehicles out there,” Sikora said.
Harrison County Parks Superintendent and Chair of the Award Committee for the West Virginia Recreation and Parks Association presented the award to Monongalia County Director J.R. Petsco. Thanked all of the volunteers and Scouting America members and students from the local elementary school who worked on the Mason-Dixon Park Historical Trail System
“I’m presenting him with the James L. McClelland Public Parks and Recreation Facility Award that goes to outstanding programs and projects in the community,” Comer said.