MORGANTOWN, W.Va. The Morgantown-Monongalia Metropolitan Planning Organization (MMMPO) has endorsed the option for new access to the Morgantown Industrial Park that would connect to U.S. 119/Grafton Road between Scott Avenue and the Glotfelty Tire Center.
The bridge was proposed by the West Virginia Department of Highways (DOH) to provide more timely access to the industrial park for Mountaintop Beverage while the I-79 Harmony Grove interchange moves through the approval and construction process.
DOH Chief Engineer of Development, Jason Foster, generally described the crossing point of the new bridge but clarified that final engineering or ground conditions could force officials to move the crossing.
“If you’re coming from Don Knotts Boulevard and go past the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses, I would say in the neighborhood of between 500 and 1,000 feet will be where the road will cross,” Foster described to the MMMPO Board and about 20 people in attendance.
The connection would intersect Smithtown Road and gain access to the industrial park via Rail Street.
The project would cost about $70 million and would likely be funded by a state and federal match. The match is typically 80 percent federal and 20 percent state.
State Senator Mike Oliverio, R-Monongalia, 13, spoke in favor of the proposed location and wants to take advantage of the DOH offer and continue pushing for the Harmony Grove interchange off of I-79. During his comments, Oliverio said when a river town like Morgantown has an offer to build a bridge, especially to an economically viable location, it should be accepted.
“It also is not an either-or as to whether we’re going to cross the river and come into the plant from this side and not get the federal interstate,” Oliverio said. “We’re going to get both.”
The Morgantown Industrial Park recently added the 330,000-square-foot, $200 million Mountaintop Beverage facility, makers of shelf-stable dairy and dairy alternatives, that will operate as many as 100 trucks in and out of the industrial park daily. If access is improved and more truck traffic can be added, Mountaintop Beverage has plans to expand the operation to 750,000 square feet.
The improved access will ease some traffic concerns in Westover and put Morgantown Industrial Park in a position to market to other industries.
“With Moutaintop Beverage really driving things up and others now willing to come, this access will allow this park to really take off and create a lot of really good-paying jobs,” Oliverio said.
MMMPO Board member Ron Justice reported the reconstruction of Brockway Avenue is on the DOH project list for next year.
“They gave us a general direction; it will be from around the Greer Building all the way downtown to Beechurst,” Justice said. “We didn’t get into any specific details.”
That section of Brockway is heavily used by trucks hauling gravel daily, leading Morgantown Mayor Jenny Selin to call for concrete in some areas. Although the design is not confirmed, Justice said the work planned will be substantial.
There will be a rebuild of a lot of Brockway Avenue because it has brick underneath the street with a sand base that will have to come up,” Justice said. “So, it will be a big project.”