Utility work continues along Mileground Road near Morgantown, a five-lane upgrade of a formerly heavily congested two-lane road.
Four traffic lanes and a center turn lane are currently open to traffic, but it will be fall before the project will be complete.
“This was desperately needed,” said West Virginia Division of Highways (WVDOH) District 4 Manager Mike Daley. “This stretch of road has been a major point of congestion for years.”
As a major access road to two hospitals and West Virginia University’s football stadium, the old two-lane could back up for hours, particularly before or after a football game. Daley said the extra lanes are expected to cut down egress times after football games from three hours to about 45 minutes.
The Mileground Road widening project has been in the works since 2019. Work to widen the 1.08-mile section of road was paid for through Gov. Jim Justice’s $2.8 billion Roads to Prosperity program.
Mountaineer Contractors Inc. of Kingwood was awarded the $8.7 million construction contract. Mountaineer has until late fall to complete work on the widening project, but all remaining work – including drains, final signage and electrical work – will be done on the shoulders and should not affect traffic.
Mileground Road is one of more than three dozen paving projects on the schedule in Monongalia and surrounding counties, some of it done by District 4’s own paving crews.
District 4 recently finished paving Dupont Road near Morgantown, and will be paving Mineral Road and Bleigh Run Road in Harrison County. District 4 includes Doddridge, Harrison, Marion, Monongalia, Preston, and Taylor counties.
Other paving projects in the works in Monongalia County include a six-mile section of US 19 near Morgantown, a four-mile section of Days Run Road, and sections of Brewer Road and Carl Zinn Road.
