MORGANTOWN — Almost exactly one year ago (Oct. 19, 2023) members of the Morgantown Monongalia Metropolitan Planning Organization Policy Board were told they would likely see temporary traffic lights going up on Chaplin Hill Road at both I-79 off ramps in the first quarter of 2024.
In March, policy board members were told they would almost definitely see those lights in place before fall.
On Thursday, they learned the lights had never even been approved by West Virginia Division of Highways leadership.
But they’re approved now, and will be going up on an undetermined date, MPO Executive Director Bill Austin told the body.
If it was supposed to be good news, that’s not exactly how it landed.
“There’s no excuse for this. We were all in this group promised a year ago. We all agreed to it. We all agreed to this. We were guaranteed, guaranteed that this was no later to start than this fall,” Monongalia County Commissioner Tom Bloom said, calling the interchange the number one safety concern in Monongalia County.
Austin explained that as the project worked through the layers of bureaucracy within DOH management, some of the state’s engineers voiced concerns that the lights could potentially make the problems worse, causing traffic to back up onto the interstate.
“It’s backing up onto the interstate now,” Star City Recorder Steve Blinco said.
As if on cue, WVU representative and Mylan Park Foundation President Ron Justice received and shared a text asking if there was something going on at Mylan Park that would have the exit ramps backed up onto the interstate at 6:15 Thursday evening.
“The answer is no,” he said.
In its current state, the Exit 155 interchange has been rated “F” for failing during peak evening and Saturday hours.
Traffic routinely backs up daily with normal Morgantown traffic, but the situation deteriorates significantly during football games and the increasingly large and frequent events at Mylan Park.
The lights are to be a temporary fix ahead of a $110 million reconfiguration of the busy crossroads.
Blinco, who coaches track at Morgantown High School, said many of the drivers navigating the dangerous interchange are teenagers heading out to the track complex, the ball fields, the aquatic center and other destinations within the park.
“There’s kids from Star City, Granville, Westover, Morgantown. They’re on that exit. It’s on the interstate. We’ve tried to say we’re concerned. These are the most vulnerable drivers in our community. How much more do we need to say?” Blinco said. “This is a main route for a lot of their practices and activities. We’re scared, Bill. We’re concerned. We want it done.”
Austin, who ended up taking the brunt of the frustration, said he’s repeatedly relayed the members’ concerns and requests for urgency to DOH leadership, which, in turn, expressed its own concerns about the efficacy of the project.
“What we’ve done is, with constant communication, we’ve gotten past that objection,” Austin said.
The board directed Austin to reach out to the DOH to ask when the lights would be put in place.
The Dominion Post reached out to the DOH requesting similar information prior to Thursday’s MPO meeting.
Ted Whitmore, director of the Traffic Engineering Division, and Jason Foster, chief engineer of development, responded, “DOH had ongoing discussions with the local MPO and performed an analysis of the intersection. A project is now being programmed for installation of the signals. Design work will follow and a timeline will be established.”
