MORGANTOWN — Local officials and the WVU Student Government Association are looking to lend a hand to the West Virginia Division of Highways in addressing a recurring source of frustration.
Later this month, volunteers will launch a summer long initiative to assist in roadway maintenance tasks, including clearing medians, litter cleanup and weed trimming.
The effort will begin at I-79 Exit 155 on the weekend of March 29.
“We want to assist the DOH so they can focus on larger issues while bringing everyone together to do something positive for our communities,” organizer and Morgantown City Council member Louise Michael said. “This is an opportunity for us to take pride in where we live, work collectively, and do something we can all be proud of. We want to unite everyone around the love we have for our local towns, cities and great university.”
According to information provided by the state, both the DOH and local officials are hopeful the project will serve as a model for future volunteer-driven projects to foster collaboration and community improvement.
Monongalia County Commissioner Tom Bloom said the county has started lining up materials and equipment to assist with the effort.
“We are planning to participate. We’ve already bought a number of items and we’re finalizing with Councilor Michael what is actually needed from us,” he said.
WVU Student Government Liaison Mimi Ferguson said the SGA believes the cleanup efforts will benefit students, parents and, potentially, recruitment.
“We also believe that it is important for students here at WVU to be connected with the community, and this is a great way to build a relationship there,” Ferguson said.
All student organizations at the university will have the opportunity to volunteer.
Star City Mayor Sharon Doyle said the town will assist with hauling away bagged trash but isn’t putting employees on the ground due to liability concerns.
Basic maintenance issues, particularly along major gateways into the greater Morgantown area, have been a point of contention locally for years.
Words like “eyesore,” and “embarrassing” have been used to describe the state of the state-maintained roads.
“Our biggest problem is that our area in District 4 currently, consistently doesn’t have the ability to maintain its core maintenance program,” current Interim Morgantown City Manager Damian Davis said in November 2023, when city and county officials sat down to air their frustrations. “Every road into the city looks terrible.”
Those comments were from 2023. They could have been from any year going back nearly a decade.
For example, representatives from across WVDOH District 4, including Monongalia County, formed the North-Central West Virginia Road Caucus in 2019 to collectively address ongoing maintenance concerns.
However, recent changes in leadership – both in Charleston and in DOH District 4 headquarters in Clarksburg – have renewed hope the two sides can right the course.
Earl Gaskins took over at District 4 in 2024.
In a December sitdown with Morgantown officials, Gaskins said he’s willing to help bring down some of the territorial barriers local entities run into when looking to assist with the simplest of tasks along DOH routes.
“All it takes is a permit,” he said at the time.
Last week, Gaskins told The Dominion Post those permits are in place for this collaborative spring cleaning push.
“The West Virginia Division of Highways is pleased to work with our community partners on this combined effort,” he said. “For our role, WVDOH provided the permits, bags, trash pickers, signage and will assist with picking up the bags of trash.”
