MORGANTOWN — If you need a poster child for overwhelmed infrastructure, West Run Road would certainly fit that bill — particularly the .86 mile stretch between Point Marion Road and Stewartstown Road.
Depending on the direction of travel, vehicles turning onto West Run from Point Marion are faced with either an uncomfortably tight turning angle or a nearly blind drop onto a steep downward slope.
Once on West Run, the winding, country road is too narrow in places for vehicles to pass.
All that aside, the road not only serves as part of an unofficial Morgantown outerbelt, but the sole access for hundreds of townhomes and apartments.
And it’s on the West Virginia Division of Highways’ to-do list.
According to information provided by Dirar Ahmad with the DOH Traffic and Engineering Division, right of way acquisition and utility relocation are currently underway for a future project to widen West Run Road and address the intersections with Point Marion and Stewartstown roads.
The most recent Transportation Improvement Plan amendments approved by the Morgantown Monongalia Metropolitan Planning Organization included two West Run Road projects.
The first, listed at $12 million, is for the aforementioned widening and intersection work. That project has a funding obligation date of Feb. 28, 2024.
The second is a $2.4 million widening project covering 1.86 miles, which is the distance from Stewartstown Road to Van Voorhis Road. The obligation date on that project is listed as Sept. 28, 2025.
