MARTINSBURG, W.Va. — Some relief could be coming to the congested area around The Commons Shopping Center.
The Berkeley County Development Authority this week proposed extending Harold Drive behind the shopping center. Currently, there is only one way in or out of the retail center. Another large shopping center is under construction across from The Commons along Apple Harvest Drive.
Berkeley County Councilman Dan Dulyea said on MetroNews affiliate WEPM’s Panhandle Live that he’s been looking at ways to reduce congestion at the busy Exit 12 interchange. He said the county is currently recording 80 new addresses a week, and growth in that area isn’t going to slow down any time soon.
“Just below Exit 8 and just above Exit 12, there’s about a thousand acres for sale in that area; now think about that; it only takes about a quarter of an acre to put a house on now,” Dulyea said on Panhandle Live Friday.
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He said this is just one part of what is needed between the two exits to alleviate traffic congestion and allow for future growth.
Dulyea said the Berkeley County Development Authority could use the 8 million dollars from the sale of property to Proctor and Gamble to get projects like the Harold Drive extension going.
“My thought is that we need to use some of that money to do some of these things that are large projects that can further the goals of the Development Authority.”
Dulyea said the Department of Transportation already has plans to reconfigure the traffic patterns at the Exit 12 interchange, but work won’t begin on that until 2020 at the earliest.
The Harold Drive extension idea is still in its beginning stages and has been tabled until next month’s board meeting.
Story by WEPM’s Marsha Chwalik