MORGANTOWN – At one point in time, it was hoped temporary traffic lights would be in place at I-79’s Exit 155 ramps sometime in 2024.
That goal was eventually adjusted, and local officials were cautiously optimistic they could be up and functioning before the start of WVU’s ongoing 2025 football season.
It now looks as if the Mountaineers will be ready to kick off in 2026 before the signals are finally turned on.
According to the West Virginia Division of Highways, the project’s current scheduled completion date is Sept. 4, 2026.
Low bidder for the work was Specialty Groups, Inc. at $566,898.60.
The project will consist of installing two new traffic signals, eight wood signal poles, span wire and pole-mounted cabinets where the Exit 155 on and off ramps intersect with Chaplin Hill Road.
The lights are temporary as there’s a much larger project looming to reconfigure the entire interchange. A three-way agreement laying out the federal, state and local obligations for that $135 million undertaking was approved in June.
That said, lights at Exit 155 have been on the wishlist for years. Local policy makers have called the interchange “broken” and “dangerous,” among other things.
For all intents and purposes, the lights have been “coming soon” since October 2023.
In November of 2024, the Morgantown Monongalia Metropolitan Planning Organization Policy Board voted unanimously to use some of the MPO’s suballocated funds to help finance the project in an effort to move it along.
In its current state, the Exit 155 interchange has been rated “F” for failing by the department of transportation during peak evening and Saturday hours.
Local officials have long noted traffic routinely backs up onto the interstate under the pressure of normal Morgantown traffic.
The situation deteriorates further during large sporting events and the increasingly large and frequent events held at Mylan Park.
In other project news, Triton Construction is the low bidder for a project to address the Joseph C. Bartolo Memorial Bridge, more commonly known as the Westover Bridge.
According to the DOH, the approximately $3.4 million job will consist of replacing the expansion joints, completing a concrete deck overlay, applying a concrete protective coating to the parapets and deck overhangs, and deck drainage repairs.
While a start date for that work was not provided, a completion date of July 31, 2026, is listed.
