MORGANTOWN — It’s expected that by year’s end, the Mountaintop Beverage facility under construction in the expanded Morgantown Industrial Park will be pulling a near constant stream of tractor-trailers through the city of Westover and down DuPont Road.
So when will the new I-79 interchange at the Harmony Grove/River Road overpass be built, giving those trucks and others direct interstate access to the park?
That was a topic of conversation during a recent work session of the Morgantown Monongalia Metropolitan Planning Organization Policy Board.
“The factory that, so far, has gone unnamed will be installing major equipment and testing in July. They will go into production in November,” Monongalia County Commissioner Sean Sikora said. “There are 60 to 100 tractor-trailers that will be coming into that facility every day, so this has to happen.”
While the Mountaintop Beverage name has been circulating publicly for months, there has never been an official announcement. That, apparently, will happen if/when the state confirms the Harmony Grove interchange has a green light.
Based on information available online, Mountaintop Beverage is building a clean manufacturing facility and preparing to operate, produce, process and package extended shelf-life beverages around the clock at the facility.
But there are apparently other potential announcements awaiting that commitment as well.
“These are manufacturing jobs in that industrial park and there are at least two to three other major projects that are on hold, will not commit, until the state commits that they’re going to do that interchange. It doesn’t have to be built, but it has, at least, to be committed,” Delegate Joe Statler said, later adding, “We have a group in there that wants to expand. They handle chemicals. They would rather not, for safety reasons, put that many more trucks through that area.”
SI Group, formerly Adavant, is located in the industrial park and claims to be the world’s largest producer of liquid phosphites, specialty antioxidants and additives.
The current working price estimate for the interchange is $41.6 million, though that number is believed to be on the high side. The actual cost in state and/or federal dollars would be $10 million, with the new Morgantown Industrial Park TIF district paying down the rest.
The policy board agreed to put the interchange project in Tier 1, meaning highest priority, as part of its Metropolitan Transportation Plan.
MPO Executive Director Bill Austin explained Tier 1 projects are typically in the 8-to-10-year window.
Austin said consultants are preparing an Interchange Justification Report for review by the DOH and the Federal Highway Administration.
“Under the agreement between Monongalia County and the WVDOH, WVDOH will review the IJR and FHWA’s requirements for the interchange and make a determination of whether or not WVDOH will construct the interchange,” he said.
In the meantime, the policy board also bumped an $8.7 million DuPont Road project up its priority list.
“DuPont [Road] was key, at least from our perspective, because without the Harmony Grove exit … we don’t know how far out that is, but we know this plant is going to start production in November,” Commissioner Jeff Arnett said. “So if we don’t improve DuPont, there won’t be a DuPont.”
The complete MTP priority list is available at mmmpo2050.com. The public comment period ends May 10.
