MORGANTOWN – The Morgantown Monongalia Metropolitan Planning Organization intends to approach its on-call consultants seeking preliminary engineering, cost estimates and an implementation plan tied to a portion of the Morgantown Green Belt concept first introduced by the Mon Valley Green Space Coalition.
A green belt is a non-motorized, or active, transportation network that surrounds and connects a community.
“They connect neighborhoods to parks, neighborhoods to schools, neighborhoods to downtown and to any other features of interest. They connect neighborhoods to each other,” Coalition member Rick Landenberger explained in an October 2024 pitch to Morgantown’s Board of Parks and Recreation Commissioners.
During its most recent regular meeting, the MPO Policy Board approved a request for qualifications for work on the “northern belt” of the overall plan – specifically Van Voorhis Road, from Ackerman Road to Clearview Avenue; and West Run Road, from Van Voorhis to the WVU Woodlot/Bakers Ridge Trailhead.
Matthew Cross, who serves as the chairman of the Morgantown Pedestrian Safety Board and a member of the MPO Citizens Advisory Committee and Green Space Coalition, explained the northern portion is both the largest and least developed section of the greenbelt plan.
“The southern loop has White Park and Marilla Park. It has some things in place already. The central loop contains the Falling Run area. The northern loop, which I live in Suncrest, I’m familiar with it, really doesn’t have that much in place at this point, and it is the biggest loop,” he said in support of the RFQ. “They’re requesting this RFQ to create some more connectivity up there in the West Run area, which we know has got some more units coming in. It’s really being developed, and now is an excellent time to do that with the West Virginia DOH completing their work for improvements in that area.”
As alluded to by Cross, the backbone of a green belt is typically built off existing infrastructure like parks and trails, then connected through easements, land acquisitions or other methods.
For example, the development of significant impact site plan approval granted by the Monongalia County Planning Commission for the planned Mallard Greene and Mallard Terrace apartment developments off West Run Road includes a condition that the developer reserve a right of way along the rear of the property to accommodate a future multiuse path.
This area is included in the scope of work the MPO is looking to have accomplished. In addition to preliminary engineering, implementation plan and a cost estimate, the RFQ is asking the selected firm to evaluate existing conditions and data analysis, pedestrian and tail connectivity, and intersection and crossing improvements.
MPO Executive Director Bill Austin said this preliminary step is eligible for “100% federal funding.”
“No local match needs to go into this project,” he said. “The idea for the project is to identify and develop initial design specs and a cost estimate for improvements to the roadway network that will provide access to the proposed green belt. So, it’s making the link between the street network and the neighborhoods and the proposed green belt. We’ve been working hand in hand with WVU, the city of Morgantown and the Green Space Coalition, looking at the entire roadway network that will be contiguous to the green belt.”
