MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Residents who live on Alpine Street in Morgantown have made another call to the Monongalia County Commission to address the conditions of their road.
The road that is located near Ruby Memorial Hospital and Mon General Hospital is reportedly is such poor condition that some vehicles cannot drive on it without being damaged. Residents hope the street can be considered for the Orphan Road Grant Program to address over $140,000 in damage that has increased since it was reported by residents in June.
“The road continues to deteriorate to the point where there are sections of it that are unpassable by certain vehicles,” said resident Derek Jackson who addressed the commission. “I’ve watched vehicles get damaged, one of mine personally has been due to the state of the road,” he said.
Based on conversations with engineers, Alpine Street residents claim the road needs a complete overhaul. The road that was once the primary entrance point into the North Hills neighborhood, needs a replacement drainage system as well as a complete repaving. Engineering reports also recommended realigning the drainage basin to the bottom of Alpine Street, preventing severe potholes around residential driveways. With winter a few months away and motorists regularly taking alternate routes, residents hope to see some level of progress so people can, at the minimum be treated for medical emergencies.
“A couple of inches of snow on that road that doesn’t get traveled much and doesn’t ever really get treated, an ambulance is not going to be able to get in and out,” said resident Stuart Godwin, who also works for WVU Medicine. “So you’d have paramedics trying to lug a stretcher up and down a hill by foot, try to transport a patient back down by foot, things like that.”
All three members of the Monongalia County Commission told residents that the level of damage seen on Alpine Street would need to be addressed in several increments. Even with reported contributions from residents and local landowners, funding from the commission and the Orphan Road Grant Program is still necessary.
As new roads are considered for the grant, the commission feels Alpine Street can be helped with an engineering report, resident contributions, and now a plan of attack to address the road already in place.
“Going forward, if the homeowners association in that area would be willing to take this street into their HOA for future maintenance, that’s part of our processes and plan going forward,” said Commissioner Jeff Arnett. “With the Orphan Road Grant, there has to be a plan going forward,” he said.
Both residents and commissioners hope that a plan can be in place to address the immediate needs for Alpine Street. The road is currently under the jurisdiction of the DOH, and the Monongalia County Commission needs to discuss options with both the state and residents to help move considerations of the Orphan Road Grant Program forward.
For residents who live on Alpine Street, any level of progress to address problems in the short and long term is going to be appreciated.
“It will only be worse this winter because the road is worse this winter,” said Jackson of the dire condition of Alpine Street. ” “There’s more holes, there’s more damage, every heavy rain we get it continues to disintegrate further, and it could legitimately get to a point where people can’t even get their vehicles in and out of their own driveways.”