In October of last year, leaders in Monongalia County were assured by state highways officials that a temporary traffic light would be installed at the intersection of Chaplin Hill Road and the Interstate 79 off-ramps at Exit 155 — one of the most difficult intersections to navigate in the region.
A year later, that promise appears to be broken — at least temporarily — as no traffic signals have been installed. This has led county government and development officials to question just why there’s been no movement on rectifying this issue.
It’s not uncommon for traffic to back up on the ramp toward I-79 at any time of the week — even without events taking place at Mylan Park. Saturday game days in Morgantown are even worse. Allowing that to continue when it’s a known problem is downright dangerous.
There’s no good reason as to why state officials have ignored what has become not only a traffic nightmare but also a safety issue. Yes, we understand a $110 million reconfiguration of that intersection is set for the future, but state officials should be concerned about the dangers being
posed now — particularly with young drivers heading to Mylan Park for athletic events.
Consider this, from Morgantown High School track coach and Star City Recorder Steve Blinco:
“There’s kids from Star City, Granville, Westover, Morgantown. They’re on that exit. It’s on the interstate. We’ve tried to say we’re concerned. These are the most vulnerable drivers in our community. How much more do we need to say? This is a main route for a lot of their practices and activities. We’re scared … we’re concerned. We want it done.”
We couldn’t agree more.
“There’s no excuse for this. We were all in this group promised a year ago. We all agreed to it. … We were guaranteed, guaranteed that this was no later to start than this fall,” Monongalia County Commissioner Tom Bloom said.
The state, for its part, offered the obligatory bureaucratic excuses — the same ones that have rendered the roads in and around the county a mess. Two state officials said the project is in the works, but that as of now, there is no timeline.
That’s simply not good enough. A known traffic hazard that could impact a major interstate highway
being ignored is government incompetence at its finest.
We must expect better
