MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — At a time when Monongalia County is part of a coalition clamoring for more funding for road maintenance, the County will instead see an unprecedented boon in new road projects.
“The scope of the work and the amount of work (is unprecedented),” said DOH District 4 Engineer Don Williams. “Some of it is driven from the General Obligation bonds. Some of it is GARVEE Bond money.”
“So much work happening, so many places, and big projects — Mon Boulevard, the five-lane, 705 repairs, things of this nature. It’s just a huge amount of work and a lot of inconvenience to our population.”
That inconvenience or “pain,” as described by Williams, should be noticeable to residents later this year.
“It’s a temporary inconvenience for a very permanent good,” he said. “For example, we discussed Rt. 705. There’s not a person in Morgantown that says 705 doesn’t want for repair, but everyone wants a repair overnight. But we’re going to have to have patience with it.”
Williams is already attempting to get all the stakeholders involved to try and minimize construction-based traffic in that area, which includes Mylan, WVU Hospitals, the Suncrest Town Centre, and a number of other small businesses.
“If we’re patient, we’ll get to it,” he said. “That’s why we’ve echoed out to the community, ‘Listen, can you help us? Can you alternate shifts? Can you keep that traffic out there during the PM peak?'”
He also suggested some employers be more flexible in allowing their employees to work from home during the time of construction.
In total, Williams diagrammed 135 projects at about $65 million to be completed over the next 2-3 years.
That includes five major bridge projects, six high-level resurfacing projects, slide repairs, tar and chip work, and other surface treatment.
Major thoroughfares impacted will include parts of University Avenue, Blue Horizon Drive, Patteson Drive, the Goshen Road interchange off I-79, Mon Boulevard, and the Mileground.
“I’m ecstatic to hear there’s 135 projects in the next 12 to 18 months,” Commission President Tom Bloom said. “What that means is you could have the Mileground and 705 under construction at the same time.”
“It’s going to be very difficult to get around for a few years, but the improvement is going to be worth it,” he added.
Bloom said the North Central WV Road Caucus isn’t focused on new projects though. Their goal, he maintained, is to bring money into the six counties of DOH District 4 for repairs and maintenance of current roads.
“If we do not do this, we can have all the great new roads in the world,” he said. “We’re just not going to be able to get to them.”
Some of the construction is going to be done with the mind of pedestrian safety, especially in light of a string of auto-pedestrian accidents in February and March in Monongalia County.
One such project will turn Mon Boulevard into a five-lane, add sidewalk, and eventually eliminate the ability for game-day street parking for WVU home basketball games.
“It is always about moving the traffic during regular days,” Williams said. “Mon Boulevard has a lot of traffic into Star City to the interstate.”
“We understand they are special events, but this will also make it safer for people. A lot of people get struck down there. Are they going to be upset that that’s where they park and it doesn’t cost anything? We’ve got to look at the greatest good for the most people.”
Williams presented the list of work in Monongalia County to about 25-30 county leaders, legislators, professors, municipal leaders, and members of assorted boards and commissions.