Westover was awarded a $240,000 West Virginia Transportation Alternative Grant in 2018 to build the fifth and final phase of its Dunkard Avenue sidewalk project.
The city fulfilled the mandatory 20% local match ($60,000) and waited for the state to commence with construction.
It looks now as if that will occur in spring 2024 — but the cost of the work has jumped about 167% in the last five years.
During Monday’s meeting of Westover City Council, a resolution was approved for an additional $100,300.62 to cover 20% of what is now an $801,503.10 project.
“This goes from right around 15 Dunkard Avenue, where we tore that house down, and runs all the way up that side of the road. All the way to the triangle,” Public Works Director Jason Stinespring said. “It will connect with where Holland becomes Fairmont Road.”
Stinespring said the state will administer the project.
“We’re getting $800,000 worth of infrastructure for $160,000. The state is going to administer this. All we have to do is get our plans approved and give them the money and they’re going to handle everything else. We don’t have to worry about a thing,” he said.
“That area around 15 Dunkard and 13 Dunkard, the infrastructure on that side is crumbling badly. This would help pay for that and give us new sidewalks all the way up the road and get the water off the road all the way down. That’s important. It’s not just about sidewalks, it’s about storm drains all the way down the road.”
According to The Dominion Post archive, the city has received $960,000 in grants and provided $240,000 in matching funds for the previous phases of the Dunkard Avenue sidewalk project dating back to 2010.
Funding for the Transportation Alternatives Grant is provided by the federal government and administered by the state. The money is for non-traditional transportation projects like railway depot restoration, rail trails and other pedestrian and bicycle facilities.
The city also recently received word from the Morgantown Monongalia Metropolitan Planning Organization that it will direct $400,000 in Surface Transportation Block Grant dollars to help construct a sidewalk and stormwater improvements along Fairmont Road, from Savannah Street to Dents Run Boulevard. Westover will provide a $100,000 match for those funds.
Stinespring said the city is still waiting to hear if Community Development Block Grant and Alternative Transportation Grant applications for the Fairmont Road sidewalk project will be awarded.
