“This is more than a crosswalk. It’s more than a safety measure. It’s a declaration. I see you. I stand with you. I respect you. I love you.”
Delegate Danielle Walker, D-Monongalia, offered those comments when asked about the newly designed Black Lives Matter crosswalk coming to Arch Street, at its intersection with Green Street, in Morgantown’s Greenmont neighborhood.
Ash Cutright, president of Morgantown Pride and a member of the Morgantown Human Rights Commission helped lead the project along with Walker, Morgantown/Kingwood NAACP President Jerry Carr and Samm Norris, an activist and organizer with Solidarity for Equality and Compassion.
Cutright was also instrumental in getting the rainbow-themed Pride crosswalk placed at in the Greenmont intersection of Wilson Avenue and Green Street — about a block away from the future site of the BLM walkway.
“After seeing some cities like D.C, Seattle and Portland put up all this beautiful street art I wanted to work with Black and POC organizations on getting either a mural or crosswalk or street art here,” Cutright said, explaining they’ve got clearance from the city’s traffic commission and pedestrian safety board as well as city council, which approved the placement of a BLM crosswalk on July 21.
The crosswalk will be paid for by the city and installed by the city’s public works department. Morgantown Communications Manager Andrew Stacy said the installation date is dependent on when the vendor has the thermoplastic sheets ready. He went on to say that the cost isn’t expected to be much different than that of a normal crosswalk, but the city hasn’t received a final quote from the vendor.
Cutright said organizers are planning a fundraising event around the ribbon cutting with the goal of raising money for Black and POC organizations.
As a four-year resident of Greenmont, Cutright said it’s the perfect neighborhood for a physical reminder that Morgantown is taking strides to make everyone feels included.
“I think it’s one thing to hear your city officials and employees say they stand in support of a movement, but it’s also nice to have something tangible,” they said. “But I don’t want this to be seen as a performative action, which is why we’re holding the fundraiser as well.”
Walker echoed those sentiments, calling the project a “step forward for progress in Morgantown, Monongalia County and West Virginia as a whole.”
“Maybe people will choose to park in Greenmont and take a walk and know that their elected officials, their neighbors and their community supports them,” Walker said.
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