MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Some Morgantown area residents continue to express concern about the design for a much talked about road construction project to get going.
Resident Shawn Commodore recently told the Monongalia County Commission not enough research has been done on the impact of roundabouts being planned for Green Bag Road.
The $10 million project will be done in three phases. Commodore’s comments focused on phase-1 which will be from near Mountainview Elementary to Mississippi Street. Two roundabouts are planned for the section. The DOH said construction is still two years away.
In addition to the impact on businesses, Commodore said the Monongalia County Technical Education Center, South Middle School and White Park will all be impacted. He said school buses and parents bringing children and picking them up from school, as well as softball, baseball, and hockey, would be disrupted during construction.
Commodore said even after the project is complete, the roundabout design will be less efficient and cause more traffic delays than the current layout.
“I believe more research needs to be done, and we also need to consult with the communities and groups in that area, which this project will affect,” Commodore said. “At South Middle School, how do parents feel about the road change?”
Monongalia County Commissioner Tom Bloom said the project has been the focus of six years of investigation that has included at least two environmental studies.
“The federal government did the studies and came up with the roundabouts,” Bloom said. “If you look at the other recommendations, they would have taken a lot more land and cost a lot more money.”
Commodore questioned if enough input had been received from the Mon Valley Green Space Coalition and other White Park advocacy groups.
“Environmentally, my concern is if, since this is going to be a fix for the new truck route, what if a truck carrying hazardous materials overturns and contaminates the watershed that was just restored in that area?” Commodore asked.
The project does come with a federal requirement to not only include community gardens in Phase I, but to fund them. A committee is being assembled to distribute funds for community gardens in the Morgantown area.
Commodore asked commissioners to reconsider the roundabout design, even questioning if trucks would use the new pavement because of the design.
“Morgantown is a small, close-knit town; that’s why it’s nice here,” Commodore said. “I personally don’t need these roundabouts as they will ugly up the area during construction and probably so after completion.”
Green Bag Road is an important connector between state Route 7 and U.S. Route 19 and was originally used by trucks to transport materials to the Green Bag Cement Plant. Now it’s a favorite route by many motorists to get around downtown Morgantown.