MORGANTOWN — Westover Police Chief Rick Panico said there’s not a whole lot that can be done to address the influx of traffic into the city since a major slide closed the lower portion of River Road in April, potentially for good.
Now all traffic heading to the Morgantown Industrial Park, Westwood Middle School, Skyview Elementary School or beyond is routed through Westover on Fairmont Road to DuPont Road.
Situated on the corner of Fairmont and DuPont is Mountain Line Transit Authority. In August, the location will replace the Garrett Street depot as the center of bus operations, adding regular bus traffic to the mix.
Panico said that when the hillside above River Road gave way in mid-April, the impact was immediate.
“We’re dealing with it already. There’s definitely been an increase in traffic, which increases the time to move around town. Between 3 p.m. and 5 p.m., you’re probably at a standstill based on the lights from the interstate coming in, and off River Road coming out,” Panico said. “School is out, so it’s not so bad now.”
Panico said police response times just about doubled during heavy traffic despite increased patrols. He said the department saw a jump in traffic accidents, as well.
“We’re dealing with probably four or five more fender benders a week. People are impatient, and they’re trying to cut corners. We’re seeing more people running stoplights because they want through that intersection as fast as possible,” Panico said. “There’s no doubt there’s a frustration level, and we could come down heavy, but that’s not going to get the traffic moving.”
Panico said his officers are trying to find a happy medium between keeping the peace and keeping things moving.
“We’re taking the approach that if they’re moving and they’re not dangerous, we don’t interfere. We want to keep traffic flowing,” Panico said. “There’s no way you can stop the traffic. We’ve just got to deal with it.”
Westover Mayor Dave Johnson said the situation is “definitely not a best-case scenario for anybody,” and conceded River Road will likely never fully reopen.
The West Virginia Division of Highways (DOH) said it would likely cost $6 million to address the 20-plus slides on the 1.27 miles of road.
When asked about the impact additional buses will have on the situation, the mayor said he’s more concerned about the school buses and traffic than the changes coming to Mountain Line.
“[Mountain Line] has actually done an excellent job trying to alleviate this. No, it’s not going to be the ideal situation. We’re still going to have more traffic, but if you listen to their plans, I came away very impressed. It’s not been an easy fix for them either,” Johnson said. “It looks to me like they’ve got a handle on it.”
He went on to say the DOH is also looking at a redesign of the intersection of Fairmont Road and DuPont Road, as well as a bolstering of DuPont to better handle the heavy trucks and buses. The latter will likely come once the miles of pipe sections sitting at the park are trucked out, probably next year.
Johnson also said a larger conversation is under way centered around alternate access to the industrial park.
Morgantown Monongalia Municipal Planning Organization (MPO) Director Bill Austin said the MPO hopes to add a secondary park access point to its long-range transportation plan by October.
Austin said one of the options will be access to I-79 from the park, potentially using Master Graphics Road.
As with other MPO planning projects, public feedback will be accepted.
“We’re looking at potential access to I-79, as well as any other alternatives we can think of. It’s a growing industrial park, and with the issues on River Road, secondary access to the park would be important,” Austin said. “All we’re looking to do right now is add it to our long-range transportation plan. It has to be there before there can be any approvals.”
