MORGANTOWN — It’s still unclear just how much the construction of the new Morgantown Industrial Park access bridge will impact the rail-trail.
What is known is that the Mon River Trails Conservancy is currently in negotiations with Triton Construction, the firm awarded a $59.7 million contract to build the bridge and connecting road.
MRTC Executive Director Ella Belling said the company offered “two possible approaches for MRTC consideration,” which are currently under review.
Belling explained the segment to be impacted is part of the Mon River Rail-Trail portion of the trail network. She said a small piece of the paved trail near MUB’s water treatment plant would also be used.
The Dominion Post reached out to the West Virginia Division of Highways in August to ask about rumblings that the trail could be closed for extended periods and potentially damaged during use as construction access and/or a staging area.
Dirar Ahmad, an assistant director in the DOH’s engineering division, said the trail would be closed only when required for user protection and should not be used as a construction access or staging area per the project’s environmental assessment.
It doesn’t sound like that’s what is being heard locally.
Morgantown City Councilor and MRTC Vice President Dave Harshbarger addressed the issue earlier this week, noting the negotiations with Triton.
“It’s actually very significant,” he said of the likely trail impacts. “The DOH anticipated that the construction could be from both the river and the hillside above the rail-trail … but it’s too much of a landslide hazard. A lot of the building needs to be done from staging on the rail-trail. So, we’re trying to work out what that would look like from a trail closure standpoint and logistics and all.”
The following day, MRTC board member and Monongalia County Commissioner Jeff Arnett offered the following: “There’s been some progress made in the negotiations between the contractor building the bridge across the Mon and the Trails Conservancy … so there will be some efforts made for remediation for any damage done to the trail and some compensation that will go for the loss of use for that trail during the time of construction. Those are ongoing, but it is something that’s going to happen.”
The Dominion Post again reached out to the DOH.
“WVDOH contract documents and NEPA documents are very clear with respect to restrictions on the use of the trail. The project plans stipulate that the trail will only be closed during times of significant overhead work or when the safety of trail uses is a concern,” District 4 Construction Engineer Jason Nelson said.
Nelson went on to the timeline remains uncertain due to access issues with multiple parcels.
“Full access is not expected until after the first of the year. A preliminary schedule has not been released yet,” he said. “That being said, there may be work that occurs in areas not impacted by parcel availability which would also not impact the rail-trail usage since most of those are on the opposite end of the project.”
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