MONONGALIA COUNTY, WV – Gov. Jim Justice announced today that expedited efforts to fix Chaplin Hill Road – the main road into the rapidly-expanding Mylan Park near Morgantown – are now underway, thanks to the continued partnership between the West Virginia Department of Transportation and the Monongalia County Commission.
The governor announced the collaboration to a group of onlookers at the Hazel and J.W. Ruby Community Center at Mylan Park.
“We’ve made big strides over the past couple of months to fix the secondary roads all across our state and this is another road that is very important to fix up for a lot of reasons,” Gov. Justice said. “We’re excited to work with the Monongalia County Commission to give our people better access than ever to a fantastic recreational destination and a growing business location in north central West Virginia.”
With tens of millions of dollars-worth of construction at the park nearly complete, and with a major influx of visitors expected to follow, the need for improvements to Chaplin Hill Road is immediate. The Monongalia County Commission is contributing $200,000 to the WVDOT to help finish funding the project faster than would be possible by relying solely on regular funding sources.
“We’re going to fix every single road that truly needs fixed, that’s all there is to it,” Gov. Justice said. “But seeing this investment from Monongalia County is critical because it allows us to move resources and get it done even faster. It shows that the county commission is committed to getting this done and so am I.”
Crews with the Division of Highways have already been on-site in recent weeks, clearing ditches and replacing defective drainage to put an end to significant water accumulation, which has historically caused issues for the road and has accelerated its deterioration.
Over the coming months, DOH crews will begin patching potholes and paving this 1.2-mile section of roadway. Crews will also evaluate the road to determine whether certain sections need widened, straightened, or whether additional guardrails would need to be installed.
Mylan Park is already home to several recreational areas such as baseball, softball, lacrosse, and soccer fields. It also contains Mylan Park Elementary School, the Monongalia County school bus garage, the Ruby Community Center, and a continually expanding business park across the street, with more than a dozen already in place.
Additionally, a major construction project at the park is nearly complete. Mountaineer Center, a community wellness facility featuring competitive and community pools and a track and field complex that will also attract visitors from across the region, is set to open this fall. This state-of-the-art facility will be able to accommodate well over 1,000 spectators and will enable West Virginia University to host Big 12 Conference championship competitions.
Construction is also well underway on a new Monongalia County Extension Service and 4-H Center.
“Our state’s economy has been gaining all kinds of momentum recently, we have historic revenue numbers coming in every month, unemployment is the best it’s been in more than a decade, and all of this has allowed places like Mylan Park to truly flourish,” Gov. Justice said. “Now, as more and more businesses and other big-time events are coming into the park, we need to make sure people can get in and out quickly and smoothly and that’s what this project will do.”
WVDOT officials plan to have the Chaplin Hill Road project completed before the end of this summer.
Meanwhile, at Wednesday’s event, Gov. Justice also provided an update on recent work done to fix roads, both in Monongalia County as well as across all of West Virginia.
Gov. Justice and WVDOT officials announced that in just the past seven weeks – the time since asphalt plants reopened for the spring – crews with the Division of Highways have paved more than 606 lane miles of roadways across the state.