MORGANTOWN — After years of requests, correspondence and complaints, the West Virginia Division of Highways is going to shine a light on the intersection of Smithtown Road (W.Va. 73) and Don Knotts Boulevard (U.S. 119).
Literally.
As the name would suggest, the Smithtown Road Traffic Signal project proposes the placement of a new traffic light at the troublesome intersection.
Monongalia County Commission President Tom Bloom indicated earlier this week that significant changes were coming to the crossroads after more than 20 years of requests from both the county and the city of Morgantown.
Jennifer Dooley, with the West Virginia Department of Transportation Public Relations Division, said the project as currently proposed would include a new traffic light and a reconfiguration of the intersection to provide two departure lanes heading south (away from town) on U.S. 119.
Morgantown Monongalia Metropolitan Planning Organization Executive Director Bill Austin said those improvements are based off a traffic study conducted for the DOH in 2016.
A design study of the intersection is forthcoming.
“This design will be reviewed by the design study and is subject to change during that study,” he said.
But before all that, the project must be added to the MPO’s Transportation Improvement Program (TIP), which Austin anticipates the MPO Policy Board will do during its November meeting.
Once the job is recognized on both the local MPO and state TIPs, federal funds can be released.
As for the cost of the work, Bloom put it at around $1.4 million, though Dooley said both the cost estimate and project timeline will be clearer once the design phase gets underway.
The intersection has been routinely identified as one of the area’s worst over the years.
In July of 2014, after a sustained campaign from the Monongalia County Commission and former Sheriff Al Kisner, new lane markings were put in place along with reflective lane-separation sticks.
In March of 2015, both the commission and Morgantown City Council signed a letter asking the DOH to reduce the 55-miles-per-hour speed limit, explaining the intersection was averaging one accident every week. The speed limit is still 55 mph.
The intersection is in a stretch of U.S. 119 brought into the city as part of the Walmart annexation in 2007, but like so many state routes in and around Morgantown, the city has no authority over speed limits, signs or signals.
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