MORGANTOWN — You could call it growing pains.
Elaine Panico just calls it dangerous.
Panico said she was speaking for herself and her neighbors on Master Graphics Road Wednesday when she told the Monongalia County Commission that the trucks servicing the Mountaintop Beverage construction site in the expanded portion of the Morgantown Industrial Park are creating an untenable situation on their narrow country road.
The dead-end road is currently the only way to access the new, upper portion of the park property.
“I don’t know if you guys have been there to look at it, but those trucks just fly … My granddaughter, 12 years old, almost got hit by one the other day. My grandson had to push her out of the way, and the guy just kept going,” Panico said. “They’re going around school buses and stuff, gentlemen. It’s bad.”
In addition, she said the road, which wasn’t in great condition before the construction began, has become nearly impassable in spots.
“I’ve made complaints. I’ve made calls. I get nothing,” Panico said, adding, “Somebody needs to check it. The road is getting flooded and washed out from all the erosion, but my concern is nobody is monitoring these guys.”
Members of the commission said they would address the matter with representatives of the industrial park.
Commissioner Sean Sikora said repairs and improvements to Master Graphics Road will be one of the final phases of the project to construct a new Harmony Grove interchange that will allow direct interstate access to the upper section of the industrial park.
“So that’s all a temporary inconvenience,” Sikora said of the road conditions, “But the safety factor has to be addressed immediately.”
Commission President Tom Bloom agreed, adding that the commission would make the concerns known to the sheriff’s department.
In other commission news, the body approved the placement of Morgantown Utility Board General Manager Mike McNulty on the Monongalia County Development Authority.
The commission also approved a proclamation recognizing April as Child Abuse Prevention and Awareness Month.
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