MORGANTOWN — It was nearly six years ago – April 2019 – when dozens of marked trees in White Park touched off a public, months-long kerfuffle between the city of Morgantown, BOPARC and the Morgantown Utility Board.
At the heart of the matter was MUB’s desire to run a gravity-fed water line through the park in order to connect the Flegal Reservoir site to its water treatment facility on Don Knotts Boulevard.
Long, long story short, it was ultimately cleared to do so – with conditions.
Earlier this week, Morgantown City Council put one of those conditions in action by approving a $1.44 million contract with SQP Construction Group out of St. Albans to construct a new bridge in White Park.
The new two-span structure will be 174 feet end-to-end and consist of a glued laminated (glulam) girder structure with glulam floor beams and timber stringers supporting a composite deck.
The bridge will allow access to the south side of the old Cobun Creek Reservoir, opening some 20 acres of White Park for new trails and public use.
The city is leading the project. MUB is financing it.
“We are very excited to see this project move forward,” BOPARC Executive Director Melissa Wiles said. “White Park has so many components that serve our community, and trails are an important part of what makes that park special. The addition of this bridge will be instrumental in augmenting recreational opportunities, as well as overall trail connectivity efforts.”
Interim City Manager Damien Davis said the span is about six feet wide on each end and expands to 10 feet in the middle to accommodate a viewing area.
Dave Harshbarger represents Morgantown City Council on the utility board.
“This bridge was a long time coming, but I’m very happy that we’ve been able to to work out an agreement between the city and MUB and see this now to a build stage, and hopefully, a reality soon,” Harshbarger said.
In April 2023, MUB paid $142,810 to GMS Land Design to provide and plant 326 trees and shrubs on city property through 2027. Replanting trees at a 2:1 ratio was another of the conditions agreed upon by the city and MUB to allow access through the park.
