MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — A changing LED billboard on W.Va. 7 shares roadway woes with passing motorists.
Near the I-68 Sabraton Exit, the billboard includes a screen that asks West Virginia Division of Highways to fix Brookhaven Road.
Attempts to find those responsible for the advertisement were not successful in time for this report.
“Whoever it was, they got it right,” said George Sodomick, a Brookhaven resident.
Sodomick, who is the president of the Brookhaven Lions Club, went to the DOH office to get road signs for Brookhaven, but to no avail. While there he also explained to an employee how bad the roads are. He said it is ridiculous that people have to drive on roads in such poor condition in a community that, he said, has one of the largest voting precincts in the county.
About a week after expressing his concerns, the DOH sent a crew out to patch the road.
Sodomick said the job was poorly done and “half of the ones they didn’t even patch. They just hit and miss.”
He said after the repairs, the road was actually worse because the patching caused “humps” in the road where potholes were. He also wondered why the upper end of the road was paved, but after reaching out to the DOH he still didn’t have an answer.
The Dominion Post also called the DOH for this story. Spokesman Brent Walker said he would call back with a comment, but did not.
“When school comes back in there’s about 40 buses a day that travel that road, and you know we’re getting pretty mad about this,” he said.
The Brookhaven Lions Club has adopted Brookhaven Road through the Adopt-a-Highway program. Members pick up the garbage along it, but Sodomick said the DOH doesn’t mow there so Lions members can’t do their job safely.
Sodomick said he was prepared to start a petition against the DOH.
Sodomick was born in Brookhaven and said he has a lot at stake. He is also president of the Brookhaven Community Association.
“Our biggest beef is at least patch the potholes, if you don’t have the money to pave it, and do a decent job on it; and mow the grass along the road,” he said.
Story by Sarah Marino