MORGANTOWN – If you don’t need to be in the vicinity of I-79 Exit 155 on Saturday, it would be wise to avoid the area if at all possible.
Those words of warning were shared Wednesday by MECCA 911 Director Jimmy Smith as local law enforcement and first responders brace for what’s anticipated to be a massive influx of vehicles coming through that interchange en route to Mylan Park and the Hope Gas Coliseum.
That exit, which essentially serves as Morgantown’s front door for out-of-towners looking to access both sites, is scheduled to receive some temporary traffic lights later this year. A $135 million complete redesign will follow in the years to come.
In the meantime, however, traffic commonly backs up onto the interstate under normal rush hour traffic. It inevitably backs up onto the interstate anytime there are large sporting events or events at Mylan Park.
The traffic expected Saturday is both inevitable and anything but normal. WVU plays host to opening round games of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament and Mylan Park anticipates thousands of attendees and athletes at about a half-dozen events.
“I spoke to the sheriff this morning and he’s working to see if he can get some of his deputies out on post at 155 to alleviate that traffic from backing up on the interstate,” Smith said. “We let DOH know we’re going to have our portable signage down on Chaplin Hill Road because when there’s deputies in the road, we want to make sure the public is aware there are officers doing traffic control ahead of them. We also coordinate with DOH to get the interstate signs available to us to make people on the interstate aware that event traffic is ahead.”
As mentioned, the West Virginia Division of Highways has scheduled the installation of temporary traffic lights at the Exit 155 interchange after years of lobbying by local policymakers who have labeled the exit, “broken” and “dangerous” among other things.
According to the DOH, the $566,989 project’s scheduled completion date is Sept. 4.
Smith said the lights can’t come fast enough.
“That will be nice,” he said. “Anytime you put officers in the road directing traffic, that’s very hazardous for those officers. There’s always safety concerns any time a person has to stand in the road to direct traffic. The sooner they can get those lights installed, it’ll make everybody’s life a lot easier.”
But traffic control doesn’t end at Exit 155.
Smith said he’s been in contact with every law enforcement agency in the county in recent days.
“We’ve got units that will be meeting the teams at the county line and escorting them into the women’s basketball tournament. We’ll have officers at different traffic posts running traffic lights,” he said. “Of course, all of the traffic up by the Coliseum, WVUPD will be up there. The traffic light in Star City just down from the Coliseum, WVU is working with Star City PD to get that light manned. Morgantown PD will be out keeping traffic flowing through Morgantown. WVU is working with Morgantown on that. There are a lot of moving parts behind these events.”
