MORGANTOWN — Some call them roundabouts. Others call them traffic circles.
But a contingent of residents in Suncrest — near the intersection of University Avenue and Collins Ferry Road — call the oblong, single-lane roundabout planned for that intersection something else entirely — unwanted and unnecessary.
Ditto for a handful of folks who live near the intersection of Green Bag Road and Kingwood Pike — also slated for a roundabout by the DOH — though that project appears to have been delayed.
A group of said residents made their feelings on the issues known to the members of the Morgantown Monongalia Metropolitan Planning Organization Policy Board during a recent session.
Neither topic is new.
The Suncrest debate dates back to at least 2005, when the intersection was identified as problematic in the MPO’s first transportation plan. Subsequent plan updates have identified the need for improvements at that crossroads and asked the West Virginia Division of Highways to take a look.
It did so, and in 2017, put forward its roundabout recommendation, which received letters of support from Morgantown City Council and the Monongalia County Board of Education — and immediate pushback from Suncrest residents and business owners as well as the town of Star City.
The DOH has said the project will cost just under $2 million and could get started this year.
Residents fear the impact the roundabout will have on traffic through their neighborhood and how it will impact the function of neighborhood routes, like Baldwin Street.
MPO Executive Director Bill Austin said the DOH’s initial plan to make Baldwin Street one-way appears to have been scrapped. But it remains to be seen how that road will be impacted according MPO Policy Board Chairperson Jenny Selin.
“One other possibility is that the roundabout may not allow people into Baldwin. Baldwin would remain two ways, but there wouldn’t be access to one of the ways into the road,” Selin said. “We’re working on getting the precise information that you need. We have been working on finding this out.”
Beth McLaughlin said eliminating two-way traffic on Baldwin either by law or design will send all the traffic accessing Suncrest Middle School down Krepps Street, where her family lives.
“These are not just words. This affects by children. If you put in that roundabout and a one-way on Baldwin, my children are going to be compromised for their safety,” she said, explaining that her kids walk to school. “There will be an accident and somebody will get hurt if you all do this, so please, reconsider.”
The DOH has said the skew of the intersection is causing it to fail due to poor sight lines and inadequate stacking for south bound vehicles on University attempting to turn left onto Collins Ferry. The DOH said the intersection also does not provide for pedestrian access despite its proximity to Suncrest Elementary.
Another roundabout project — at Green Bag Road and Kingwood Pike — has been delayed in order to conduct an environmental assessment.
The Hastings family owns farm land at the intersection.
Ted Hastings said his family demanded the environmental report based on the impact the roundabout would have on their land, from which they operate a nonprofit community farm, Conscious Harvest.
He said the family was initially told the project had received a categorical exclusion from any environmental study, so they started doing some research.
“Our farm land does not qualify for that kind of exclusion at all,” Hastings said, explaining that the family made it clear that it would take legal action if the project moved forward without the assessment.
The Kingwood Pike roundabout is one of two proposed as part of the roughly $10 million Roads to Prosperity bond-funded project. It will extend 1.28 miles from Jonathan Lane in the east — Jonathan sits between Mountainview Elementary and Glen Oaks Church of Christ — to just before Mountaineer Mall in the west, where Green Bag divides and widens to four lanes.
Another traffic circle is proposed near Mississippi Street, which feeds traffic to South Middle, MTEC and White park. Traffic studies indicated these would work better than traffic lights, according to the DOH.
Austin indicated the type of environmental study to be conducted is substantial in scope and could potentially delay the project to the point that it’s no longer funded through the state’s general obligation bonds.
The Hastings believe the DOH should do what it intended to more than a decade ago, and put turning lanes at the Green Bag, Kingwood Pike intersection.
“There has been a local push to recommend turning lanes, even since the inception of this project, and I appreciate that,” Ted Hastings said. “I’m sorry that Charleston keeps recommending roundabouts in areas that people don’t want them.”
An engineering level study conducted by the DOH indicated that widening the road to install turn lanes would actually have a greater impact on surrounding businesses and residences than installing a roundabout in a field.
Austin said as part of the assessment, all potential alternatives will be presented to the public. He noted that regardless of which option is selected, the project will include a sidewalk on the north side of Green Bag Road, from the Dorsey Avenue area to the shopping area near Giant Eagle.
