Oct. 19—MORGANTOWN — Almost exactly one year ago (October 19, 2023), members of the Morgantown Monongalia Metropolitan Planning Organization Policy Board were told they would likely see temporary traffic lights come on on Chaplin Hill Road at both I-79 exits in the first quarter of 2024.
In March, policy board members were told they would almost certainly see these lights in place before the fall.
On Thursday, they learned the lights had never been approved by West Virginia Division of Highways leadership.
But they have now been approved and will take place at an unspecified date, MPO Director Bill Austin told the agency.
If it was supposed to be good news, that’s not exactly how it ended up.
“There is no excuse for this. We were all in this group that was promised a year ago. We all agreed to this. We all agreed to this. We were guaranteed, guaranteed that this would be done no later than this fall begin,” said the Monongalia County Commissioner. Tom Bloom said, calling the interchange the biggest safety problem in Monongalia County.
Austin explained that as the project worked through the layers of bureaucracy within DOH management, some state engineers expressed concerns that the lights could potentially worsen problems, causing traffic to back up on the highway.
“He’s backing onto the highway right now,” said Star City Recorder Steve Blinco.
As if on cue, Ron Justice, a WVU representative and president of the Mylan Park Foundation, received and shared a text message asking if there was something going on at Mylan Park that would cause the exits to move backwards at 6:15 a.m. Thursday evening. to the highway.
“The answer is no,” he said.
As it stands, the Exit 155 interchange is rated “F” due to failure during rush evening and Saturday hours.
Traffic backs up normal Morgantown traffic daily, but the situation worsens significantly during football games and the increasingly large and frequent events at Mylan Park.
Blinco, who is a track coach at Morgantown High School, said many of the drivers navigating the dangerous interchange are teenagers heading to the track complex, ball fields, aquatic center and other destinations in the park.
“There are kids from Star City, Granville, Westover, Morgantown. They’re at that exit. It is located on the highway. We have tried to say that we are concerned. These are the most vulnerable drivers in our community. should we say?” Blinco said. “This is the main route for many of their practices and activities. We’re scared, Bill. We’re concerned. We want it done.”
Austin, who ultimately bore the brunt of the frustration, said he repeatedly relayed members’ concerns and requests for urgency to DOH leadership, which in turn expressed its own concerns about the project’s effectiveness.
“What we’ve done is we’ve gotten past that objection through continued communication,” Austin said.
The board directed Austin to contact the DOH to find out when the lights would be installed.
The Dominion Post contacted the DOH ahead of Thursday’s MPO meeting requesting similar information.
Ted Whitmore, director of the Department of Traffic Engineering, and Jason Foster, chief development engineer, responded, “DOH has had ongoing discussions with the local MPO and conducted an analysis of the intersection. A project is now being programmed to install the signals. design work will follow and a timeline will be established.”
