MORGANTOWN — Tom Bloom hit the road during Wednesday’s meeting of the Monongalia County Commission.
Or rather, he’s about to.
Bloom, the commission’s current president, has been named to a fledgling “public stakeholder committee” on roadwork projects across the county.
The committee is being formed by Don Williams, an engineer with District 4 of the state Division of Highways (DOH).
District 4 takes in north-central West Virginia, including Monongalia County.
The commission president read an introductory letter from the engineer, who wasn’t present at the meeting and didn’t return calls in time for this report.
“As I’m sure you are aware by now, there will be a record number of transportation projects in Monongalia County over the next several years,” Williams wrote.
Enhancements to the Mileground Road stretch of U.S. 119 are on the list, Williams said, along with lane-widening work proposed for Green Bag Road, West Run Road and Beechurst Avenue.
Van Voorhis Road is set for the addition of a sidewalk and improvements to its drainage system, Williams wrote, along with Interstate 79 improvements at Star City and Chaplin Road.
Collectively, the price tag is about $230 million, Williams said earlier to Bloom.
There’s all that, plus other ongoing issues, including potholes and slides on River Road, he said.
Williams said 12 people will fill the committee. He said he wants people from the general public, business and academia to fill the seats.
The group, he said, will hold public meetings and other informational sessions on roadwork projects in the county, while also serving in “an advisory capacity” to the DOH.
In other business, commissioners heard a report from Dr. Lee B. Smith, the executive director of the Monongalia County Health Department and the county’s health officer.
In response to the ongoing Hepatitis A outbreak across the U.S., Smith said the county will offer vaccinations to sheriff’s deputies and other first responders in the days ahead.
As of Wednesday, there were no known cases in Monongalia County, he said, although West Virginia has reported 542 confirmed cases of the disease.
Meanwhile, Susan Riddle and Jamie Summerlin, of the Greater Morgantown Convention and Visitors Bureau, said ticket sales for next week’s Mountain Fest Motorcycle Rally are up 30 percent from this time last year.
Riddle is the CVB’s executive director and Summerlin is director of special events. This is the 14th year for the rally, which runs July 26-29 at Mylan Park and The Gateway.
