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MORGANTOWN - Calling it, "an ambitious but achievable vision," the Monongalia County Commission has thrown its public support behind the Morgantown Greenbelt concept.
First envisioned locally in the 1990s and most recently championed by the Mon Valley Green Space Coalition, a greenbelt is for cyclists and pedestrians what an outerbelt is for motorists - a circuit connecting the various parts of a community.
A letter supporting the concept was approved by the commission earlier this week. That letter was in response to an April work session with members of the Mon Valley Green Space Coalition, including JoNell Strough.
"It's a continuous link of green spaces that provides connectivity in and around a metropolitan area," Strough explained at the time. "It can be comprised of parks, rail trails, public lands, and also private lands through rights-of-way purchases."
She continued.
"People might say, 'Why do we need a greenbelt?' We have the rail trail, and the rail trail is a major asset for Morgantown. Some problems with it are that there are actually not that many connections to neighborhoods where people actually live, the parks that people want to go to, to schools or to local businesses. So we have the rail trail, but often to get to it you have to get in your car and drive to it. One of the things we need is greater connectivity."
The MVGSC published a conceptual map of the greenbelt's design in early 2024 and has been steadily garnering support from entities including the city of Morgantown, BOPARC, the West Virginia Land Trust and numerous others.
It picked up significant support in the form of the Morgantown Monongalia Metropolitan Planning Organization, which commissioned a recently completed study of a northern portion of the overall greenbelt - specifically Van Voorhis Road, from Ackerman Road to Clearview Avenue; and West Run Road from Van Voorhis to the WVU Woodlot/Bakers Ridge Trailhead.
That complete street study, which will be forwarded to the West Virginia Division of Highways for implementation into the DOH's forthcoming design of West Run improvements between Stewartstown and Van Voorhis Roads, recommends the creation of an 8-foot-wide multiuse path along West Run Road as well as improved lighting, safer pick-up and drop-off sites for transit and school buses and the implementation of traffic calming devices.
It also recommends the construction of roundabouts at the intersection of West Run and Van Voorhis roads and the intersection of West Run and Riddle Avenue.
It was explained that the MPO study was not specifically to further the plans for the greenbelt project, but to consider forthcoming improvements to that section of West Run and how those improvements could supplement the greenbelt plan.
Commissioner Sean Sikora read a portion of the commission's letter supporting the overall concept.
"The proposed greenbelt would connect Morgantown and Monongalia County's existing parks, green spaces and trails in a continuous network, creating a safe and accessible route for residents to walk, run and bike through the community, while providing an alternative to our increasingly congested vehicle-dependent streets, many of which are plagued by potholes and other infrastructure challenges."