KINGWOOD — Kingwood could learn by March whether the state will return ownership of 10 streets to the town.
In August, city council voted to ask the Division of Highways (DOH) to return control of 12 streets to the city. These were streets the state assumed responsibility for years ago under the HARP program.
Council asked the DOH to return Brown Avenue, Kevin Lane, the lower end of South Price Street, Sisler Street, Seemont Drive, King Drive, Scott Lane, Sharon Lane, Western Drive, Miller Road, East High Street and West High Street.
Later, according to Mayor Jean Guillot, the state asked to retain Brown Avenue and South Price so it could make a circle when plowing Hospital Hill, which the state agreed last year to take into its system.
DOH District 4 Engineer/Manager Michael Cronin said this week the request has been processed through district personnel and the paperwork submitted to Charleston.
“Once submitted it will take some time for review, then Charleston must place a public notice for a month for any issues prior to completing the process. I do not look for this process to be completed before March 2021,” Cronin said.
City attorney David Glover said Monday that after speaking with the DOH initially, he was asked to submit a written request for the change of control. He faxed the written request to the DOH district manager Nov. 12.
“The DOH is processing the request, which I was told could take some time,” Glover said Monday.
The catalyst for the request was when the DOH said it planned to remove stop signs from Miller Road. The signs have been there more than 20 years, dating back to when a long-term care home (now Stonerise) and Preston Manor Apartments were built at what was then the end of Miller Road.
Residents of Miller Road complained then of traffic speeding through the residential neighborhood, and the signs were erected to slow traffic. Since then, the area has seen further residential development.
Cronin said the signs on Miller Road were removed then replaced.
“As a DOH route the signs were not warranted, and as such removed. Once the paperwork had been processed for Miller Road to be taken back by the city, the signs were replaced since the city had previously placed the signs,” Cronin said.
“The issue I have is these roads are not owned by the city, yet the city maintains these roads. We plow these roads, and my belief is we shouldn’t do any of that if they’re not owned by the city,” Guillot said when council discussed the matter.
He noted that in 2015 the city paid a contractor $43,715 to pave Miller Road. The state sometimes gives Kingwood blacktop to fix the roads, the mayor said, “but we go get it with our truck, we mill it with our machines and we put it down with our equipment and our guys.”
The city could also do as well or better at plowing and treating the streets in the winter, some council members said.
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