MORGANTOWN — In 2019, the state of West Virginia said it was committing $66 million to reconfigure I-79 Exit 155.
Working with the county and developer WestRidge, the state said the new interchange would be constructed in a divergent diamond configuration with a westbound flyover and new bridges over Chaplin Hill Road.
In February, it was announced that the U.S. Department of Transportation had awarded $54.3 million for, according to the DOT’s project description, a lot of the same work.
Fortunate, as it’s now expected to be in the $110 million range.
For that money, the county will get the project described above, with the addition of a sidewalk/multipurpose path between The Gateway and the rail-trail on the far side of the Star City Bridge. There’s talk of a potential roundabout to be located somewhere between The Gateway and Hoy Redi-Mix — but that remains to be seen.
What definitely won’t be included in the project is improvements to Chaplin Hill Road out to Mylan Park. Including that would bump the cost up to about $180 million.
Exit 155 was a topic of conversation Thursday for the Morgantown Monongalia Metropolitan Planning Organization Policy Board.
Last month, the board tabled a request from the WVDOH to alter the project’s listing on the MPO’s Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) to indicate a funding change. Specifically, it would replace $59.4 million in state dollars with federal dollars for the project.
Policy board members feared that was an indication the state was looking to pull its original commitment.
Not so, said Sean Sikora.
Sikora, MPO Director Bill Austin and board members Ron Justice, Russ Rogerson, Joe Statler and Steve Blinco recently sat down with DOH officials to discuss the long-awaited interchange upgrade.
The group returned with a recommendation to approve the state’s request, which the board followed.
“We’ve got assurances that our project is moving forward, and this actually helps the state,” Sikora said.
Beyond the money, a positive consequence of the federal grant is that it comes with a deadline for substantial completion in the fall of 2028.
Not a lot of time when you consider this project has already been in discussion for nearly eight years at this point.
“The grant has some tight deadlines we need to meet. It’s going to take 12-15 months just to get the contract between state highway and feds approved, so we’re right up against some deadlines where we have to get things in place. We don’t have a lot of time to fool around,” Sikora said.
“Considering the pace this project has moved over the past seven years … I would say it’s lightning pace based on the last couple weeks.”
In other news from Thursday’s meeting, Austin said the DOH’s work on Beechurst Avenue is expected to be complete in a month or so.
“There may still be some punch list items and a little bit of additional impact, but the overall goal and anticipation is that project will be completed by the end of July,” he said.
