MORGANTOWN — More than a year in the making, the Morgantown Regional Bike & Pedestrian Transportation Plan includes recommendations for 92 miles of bike lanes of varying configurations, 40 miles of new and repaired sidewalks, 120 new crosswalks and 94 pedestrian ramps.
All told, the plan includes more than 400 recommendations — including cost estimates — for improving bike and pedestrian-friendly infrastructure and connectivity in Morgantown, Westover, Star City, Granville and portions of the county.
Members of the Morgantown Monongalia Metropolitan Planning Organization’s policy board recently got a sneak peek at the highlights of what Alta Planning & Design will deliver for the board’s approval at its November meeting.
The work, spearheaded locally by Alta Senior Planning Associate Phil Goff, came at a cost of $266,000. About 90 percent of that was covered by state and federal highways funds. The rest was provided by Morgantown, Monongalia County, WVU and Westover.
Goff said the greater Morgantown area, like most urbanized areas, is reaping the results of years of planning and spending focused almost entirely on the movement and storage of automobiles. Diverting even a small percentage of those resources to walking and biking, he explained, would pay big dividends.
“The benefits extend beyond just environmental benefits, economic benefits and public health. This is also really about the efficient use of public space and making our cities more livable places,” Goff said.
An extended process of data collection began the planning process, including a full analysis of existing conditions overlaid with high-traffic destinations like schools, PRT stations, bus stops, parks and campus location. Gaps in sidewalk and trail networks were factored in as was community feedback that included open house sessions and an online survey that elicited 568 response.
Once the list of projects was identified, priorities were assigned based on a scoring system using the plan’s core goals — safety, connectivity, design, equity, economy, health and feasibility. Alta also looked at the number of accidents at and around each of the identified locations in determining priorities.
The result is summed up on two maps — one featuring a network of pedestrian recommendations, the other, recommendations for cycling infrastructure.
Just a few of each included:
Bicycle
Morgantown — Rail trail access to and from the Westover Bridge
Morgantown — Buffered bike lane on Spruce Street, from Pleasant to Prospect
Westover — Bicycle boulevard on West Park Ave.
Star City — Bike climbing lane with downhill sharrows on University Ave.
Pedestrian
Mon County — Side path along Dorsey Ave. from Philip Street to Hite Street.
Morgantown — Crosswalk and curb extensions on Walnut/Chestnut streets
Westover — Sidewalk on at least one side along Fairmont Road from Holland Avenue to Dents Run Road
Granville — Crosswalks on Main Street
MPO Executive Director Bill Austin explained that Goff’s presentation touched on just a small percentage of the overall plan to come.
“I’d also caution we’re not advocating implementing all of this plan at once. It’s a very detailed plan that would have to be implemented in a piecemeal fashion and a logically prioritized manner,” Austin said, explaining it would take years to address all the recommendations.
“But I think we’re creating a plan for the community that can create the infrastructure that we need for cyclists and pedestrians, particularly, to travel safely in our community, and to really get cars off our roads so we don’t experience the congestion that we have.”
