MORGANTOWN — An internal survey of the Morgantown Monongalia Metropolitan Planning Organization Policy Board indicates improvements to Green Bag Road continue to be a top priority of local policy makers.
MPO Executive Director Bill Austin explained he took five large projects and asked each of the 13 policy board members to rank their top three.
The projects have already been identified as Tier 1 priorities by the policy board but don’t currently have a funding commitment from the state.
When the votes were tallied, Phase II of the Green Bag Road improvements topped the list with 23 points.
Phase I, which will widen Green Bag and build two roundabouts between Lucky Lane and Mississippi Street, has already been funded.
According to The Dominion Post archive, that project is estimated at $19 million — including $3 million in right-of-way improvements in the current fiscal year and $16 million in roundabout construction in fiscal year 2025.
Phase II will essentially address the rest of the road — from Mississippi to Don Knotts Boulevard (including that intersection) on one end, and from Lucky Lane to Deckers Creek Boulevard on the other.
The Metropolitan Transportation Plan lists Phase II at just over $12.4 million.
Improvements to Westover’s Fairmont Road/Holland Avenue came in a close second in the voting with 21 points.
The votes fell off significantly from there, with Willey Street improvements getting 13 points; upgrades to the northern section of Earl Core Road getting 12 and WV-705 corridor improvements getting eight.
It was explained that each of the projects received at least one first place vote and every project was included in the top three for at least five members.
Austin said the purpose of the survey was to give him guidance when pushing for projects with the state.
“The state has changed their policy for their [Statewide Transportation Improvement Program] development and it includes MPOs having the opportunity to present to DOH management our top priorities,” Austin explained. “If, miraculously, the genie appears and said, ‘You have one project you can get done,’ then this is the project that was identified.”
Policy Board member Ron Justice, representing WVU, said the body has already identified all of those projects as top priorities.
“They’re all important. What we ought to do is go fight, like other communities do, for all of them,” he said.
The MPO policy board includes all three Monongalia County Commissioners, three representatives from Morgantown City Council and one representative from each of the following: Westover, Granville, Star City, Blacksville, WVU, Monongalia County Board of Education and Mountain Line. The body also includes a representative from the West Virginia Division of Highways, though he did not participate in the survey.
