MUB must consider
trees, wildlife in route
Morgantown is a popular place. What’s not to like? There are great restaurants both in town and nearby, venues for dance, theater, movies, soccer, baseball, football and available jobs and watering holes serving everything from craft beers to bubble tea.
This is both the cause and effect of population growth in the Morgantown area. We see it on the roads, we feel it as we wait to turn onto Van Voorhis Road, and we pay for it in our taxes and sewage bills. So, with the increasing population and stress on local resources, it makes sense MUB would plan for an alternative water supply in case of temporary disruption to the Monongahela River. Months ago, we heard discussion of the Cobun Creek Reservoir and a plan to provide this supply. Then, we saw a swath of trees cut out along Mississippi and a piece of pipeline snaking through a shallow ditch.
It wasn’t until later that we found out the path of the pipeline. It would go through White Park, passing near the waterfalls next to the dam and then turn back along the main path. At the Morgantown City Council meeting, the MUB engineer said that in the original engineering plan, trees were simply counted.
This implies that the trees’ age, health and canopy were not considered, but hopefully will be for alternative pathways for the pipeline. The pipeline is gravity fed, meaning that no pumping station is needed.
Additional issues to be considered are habitats for birds such as owls and woodpeckers, and amphibians such as frogs and salamanders. As MUB, thankfully, considers alternate routes, soils, trees and wildlife must be considered.
There is no guarantee that the gravity-fed design will work, and a pumping station may be needed in any case. The time to think this pipeline’s pathway through is now, because the largest trees are providing hundreds of thousands of dollars of ecosystem services each, and so much of Morgantown’s history is embedded in White Park.
Steven Knudsen
Morgantown
Hope Green Bag Road
work is done quickly
A state Division of Highways handout regarding Green Bag Road construction indicates “A maintenance of traffic (MOT) plan will be in place to minimize delays, maintain access to residences and businesses, and maintain safety for travelers and construction workers.” Laudable for sure, but difficult at best.
Having read the DOH plans for detours via Summers School Road and Aaron’s Creek, I have to wonder if the planners actually drove a large truck on either under normal traffic conditions.
Folks understand there is no easy solution. However, but both routes are very narrow with tight turns with lots of curves on steep Summers School Road.
One has to wonder how the road surface on either route will hold up to heavy traffic, both in volume and weight. Plus, the latter in winter can be treacherous.
Information DOH provides indicates about 10 minutes for the Aaron’s Creek car detour and 25 minutes for the Summers School Road detour. Maybe. If those roads aren’t crammed with traffic or a truck isn’t stuck trying to negotiate a tight turn.
We can only hope that construction is done quickly, rather than in the interminable Interstate 79 manner. And that our patience stands up to the situation.
Lew McDaniel
Morgantown
McKinley should back
Restore our Parks Act
West Virginia is a wonderful state and I’m proud to call it home. John Denver sang an entire ode to its beauty. That song is now enshrined as one of our four state songs. It falls to us to continue preserving that natural beauty and ensuring our country roads receive the care they need.
Unfortunately, national parks in West Virginia had $45.6 million in deferred maintenance needs in 2017. From buildings to trails to unpaved roads, our parks are struggling in disrepair. Yet our parks remain as popular as ever, bringing in $84 million to the economy in West Virginia in 2017.
Congress made a promise to future generations of Americans by establishing our national parks. Now they face nearly $12 billion in deferred maintenance needs.
I want future generations to know the beauty of our state and feel pride in calling West Virginia home. That is why it is imperative for members of Congress like Rep. David B. McKinley to restore our parks. I urge Rep. McKinley to sign on to the Restore our Parks Act currently before Congress.
Delegate John Williams
D-Monongalia
Morgantown
Increasing state tourism
hinges on road repair
Gov. Jim Justice says he has new ideas to increase tourism. That’s all well and good. Our state makes money from tourism.
I hope people come to West Virginia. It is a beautiful state with lots of things to do and places for tourists to visit. The one thing that may hurt tourism in our state though is the condition of our roads.
Unless some major road repair is done, then I can see a lot of tourists probably not coming back to West Virginia. Tourists want to spend their vacations where they can enjoy themselves without spending money on auto repairs due to bad roads.
The conditions of West Virginia roads will cause tourists to travel elsewhere and the thousands of dollars that would have been spent in West Virginia will go to another state.
The maintenance and road repairs should have been done to keep roads in good condition over the years instead of letting them get as bad as they are now.
The additional costs to get our roads back in acceptable condition is uncalled for. Now it is catch-up time to fix up the roads before we are not able to travel on them ourselves. It is a shame the state let our roads get to be in such horrible condition.
Ralph Correll
Morgantown
