MPO considering the priority of additional Morgantown Industrial Park access

MORGANTOWN — The Morgantown Monongalia Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) is taking public feedback on its project priority list with a focus on additional access for the Morgantown Industrial Park, including the possibility of a new I-79 interchange.
The MPO held a public information session Wednesday evening at Mountain Line’s Westover headquarters.
Another session will be held this evening at 6 p.m. in Room 110 of the Monongalia County Courthouse.
MPO Executive Director Bill Austin explained that the closure of the lower portion of River Road in April due to numerous slips prompted a request from the Monongalia County Commission and others to consider placing a higher priority on additional access for the industrial park.
Austin explained that the MPO can identify projects worth a total of $191 million as a part of its “fiscally constrained,” or Tier 1, project list for the years 2016 to 2045.
Right now the MPO has an estimated $190.9 worth of work identified in that category. Just because a project is on the Tier 1 list doesn’t mean it will happen, Austin explained.
The question the MPO is asking the public is two-fold. One, do you support putting additional access to the industrial park on the Tier 1 list. If so, what would you remove from the list to free up those funds.
The MPO has identified a number of potential ways to provide new access to the park, ranging from a new I-79 interchange to a bridge across the Monongahela River connecting the industrial park to Don Knotts Boulevard, to a  build-out of River Road.
Cost estimates for the new access range from $15 million to $40 million, but the MPO is using $16 million as the estimated project cost for the purposes of its potential Tier 1 list amendment.
Westover Mayor Dave Johnson said the closure of River Road has  put additional strain on traffic and infrastructure in the city that he hopes can be alleviated by additional access to the park.
“We want to get some of this truck traffic out of town, but this will also be good everyone. We have so much traffic right now in Westover,” Johnson said. “There’s no question we’re impacted by the industrial park and we’re really impacted by River Road being closed.”
A complete list of current MPO Tier 1 projects as well as the various industrial park access options can be found on the MPO website, plantogether.org.
Written comments should be provided to the MPO on or before Jan. 16.
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