MORGANTOWN — In October 2023, the Morgantown Monongalia Metropolitan Planning Organization was prepared to steer $400,000 in Transportation Block Grant dollars into engineering a pedestrian bridge spanning Don Knotts Boulevard.
After all, the connection has been identified as a Tier 1 priority by the MPO Policy Board and a wish list item on every relevant planning document produced by the city of Morgantown in recent history.
The span would create a safe, direct connection between a significant portion of the city’s population, riverfront amenities and the rail-trail network.
But the state — more specifically, engineers with the West Virginia Division of Highways — had serious concerns about whether or not an accessible facility could be reasonably built to traverse the rapid drop in elevation from the 1st Ward side of Don Knotts down to the trail side.
So, in December, the MPO Policy board spent $37,200 to have consultant Kimley-Horn determine whether the project is feasible.
The body received those findings earlier this month.
As for feasibility, Kimley-Horn Transportation Engineer Colin Frosch said the project can be built for an estimated cost of range of $7.4 million to $11.1 million depending on the level of amenities desired.
“This trail is certainly feasible, and while $11.1 million and $7.4 million are certainly high costs, we’re trying to predict for the future. We’re at a very high feasibility level with this study and there are very many opportunities for value engineering that could be implemented when this goes into design,” he said. “Cost could vary based on how minimalistic you want to go or how much landscape architecture and lighting you want included.”
Note that Frosch used the word “trail.”
That’s because the feasibility design selected counters the challenging topography with an approximately 1,300-foot, seven-foot-wide paved trail starting at the corner of Callen Avenue and Lawnwood Street and running parallel to Callen at a federally-acceptable 5% grade down to the bridge, which would deliver pedestrians and cyclists to the rail-trail access and parking lot near Mountaineer Heritage Park.
On the rail-trail side, a spiral ramp structure as well as, potentially, a set of stairs, will get users down to ground level, and vice-versa.
In addition to a well-attended public meeting held last month, Frosch said 177 surveys were completed in regard to the project.
Of those, 94 were very much in support of the project. Their reasoning typically came down to the difficulty in getting across Don Knotts Boulevard and the importance of connecting neighborhoods to the rail-trail and riverfront.
“For people who advocate for a system throughout the city, this is the lynch pin. This is the spot people focus on,” Morgantown City Councilor and policy board member Jenny Selin said.
The information presented by Frosch indicated 48 respondents were strongly opposed to the idea. Their concerns centered around public safety, the high cost and the likelihood of drawing more noise, traffic, light and other unwanted impacts into a relatively quiet neighborhood.
“Most of the concerns we were receiving were from people who lived adjacent to the trail. I’ll make the generalization that as your place of residence got further away from the trail, you were more likely to be in favor of the trail,” Frosch said.
The policy board voted unanimously to accept the study.
MPO Executive Director Bill Austin offered a reminder that the report doesn’t represent a final design or guarantee the project will move forward.
It was simply meant to answer the DOH’s concerns about whether or not it could be reasonably built.
“This process will give the city a report that they can work with to approach grant applications and those sorts of things, or if the MPO decides to take it up, we have a design in our back pocket as to the type of facility we would be considering,” Austin said.
