MORGANTOWN — Monongalia County Commission President Tom Bloom said he’s been frustrated with the West Virginia Division of Highways’ lack of urgency in participating in local pedestrian issues on state roads.
Hopefully, he explained, that’s about to change.
A meeting held Wednesday morning with representatives of the DOH, Morgantown Monongalia Metropolitan Planning Organization, WVU and city and county staff highlighted two areas of focus — the intersection of Willey Street and Richwood Avenue, and Patteson Drive.
MPO Director Bill Austin said pedestrians and motorists could see action in these two areas as early as October.
Austin explained the city is interested in working with the DOH on changing the oddly configured Willey/Richwood intersection, but the amount of pedestrian traffic in that area warrants something more immediate in the mean time.
“There was a very strong agreement that the Richwood, Willey intersection — right there at the convenience store — needs to be highlighted for everybody to make sure they’re paying attention,” Austin said.
Following a pair of serious vehicle versus pedestrian accidents in 2018, one resulting in a fatality, Patteson Drive, including the intersection of Patteson Drive and Morrill Way, is also on the agenda.
There has already been a minor pedestrian-involved accident at that intersection since WVU students returned late last month.
Just before the return of students, the city of Morgantown, Monongalia County and WVU collaborated on improvements to three busy crosswalks — two on University Avenue and one on Campus Drive.
“Those were on city streets. This would kind of be a model for working together on state-maintained intersections, including those on Patteson Drive,” Austin said.
In other commission news, Chestnut Ridge Park Superintendent Amy Hettick asked the commission to consider using levy funds to make the park’s sledding hill a winter-long attraction.
Hettick explained that for approximately $225,000 the county could purchase a standalone snow machine ($175,000) and a cable tow system ($50,000) to help bring sledders back up the hill.
“I looked at the number of days that we rented sleds last winter, and it was 20 days,” Hettick said. “This would definitely increase the number of days that people could come out to the park and sled.”
Facilities Director Bobby Doyle explained that the snow machine is plug-and-play system that comes with a three-phase generator, which can also be used to power the tow system.
Additionally, Hettick said she would like to use about $30,000 to expand and overhaul the park’s playground.
The three county parks are part of the parks and trails levy that went into effect in July 2016. The levy money — about $400,000 annually — is split between operations and projects.
County Administrator Rennetta McClure explained that so far a total of $769,140.19 has been collected for park operations while $461,484.11 has been collected for projects.
The commission will take up the request during a future meeting.
Also on Wednesday, $3,000 was allocated for the Route 2/I-68 Authority, which advocates for the expansions of W.Va. Route 2 and the I-68 corridor. It was explained that $3,000 is the standard annual contribution for the participating counties — Hancock, Brooke, Ohio, Marshall, Wetzel, Tyler, Pleasants, Wood, Monongalia and Marion.
Tweet @DominionPostWV.
