Westover wants Holland Avenue commitment from DOH

Ben Conley, The Dominion Post, Morgantown, W.Va.
·3 min read

Mar. 18—WESTOVER — The West Virginia Division of Highways no longer intends to resurface Holland Avenue as the final phase of Westover's project addressing stormwater and sewer lines beneath the crumbing road.

Instead, the DOH is going to come in at some point after the project is complete and reconstruct the road surface.

How long after ?

That was the question on everybody's mind during Monday's Westover City Council meeting.

"Can we count on them doing that ?" Mayor Bob Lucci asked. "I guess what I'm worried about is what if they don't want to do it for a year ? Is there something that we can work out to know for sure it will be done in a timely manner ?"

The city factored $350, 000 in resurfacing work into its project financing package as an in-kind contribution from the DOH.

Project engineer Doug Smith said the problem comes down to a technicality over where the state is pulling the money from and when it can commit to doing so.

Even so, he said the timing could still work out.

The Holland Avenue project is expected to wrap up in late 2024 or early 2025. Smith said the DOH has the resurfacing project slated for summer 2025.

In the meantime ?

"We're not going to leave that as gravel. We will repair the trenches, but you will have trenches in the roadway until the DOH comes back to do that. You'll have patchwork where the two pipelines are going in, " Smith said.

At Lucci's request, Smith said he would request something in writing from the DOH committing to the summer 2025 timeline.

Asked if he thought the state would honor that commitment, Smith said he did, explaining Holland Avenue has been on the state's to-do list for years, but deferred until the city could address its deteriorating infrastructure beneath the road.

That said, he wasn't ready to make any promises.

"We know how schedules—paving schedules in particular—get moved from year to year depending on where the money is allocated, " Smith said. "I would not in good faith stand in front of you and tell you or promise you it will be done in 2025. I have a strong feeling that it will. I don't have any reason to believe that it won't. But I would not in good faith stand here and give you a guarantee."

Sticking with the Holland Avenue project, DOH District 4 is recommending a 24-hour work schedule for the project.

If the DOH leadership ultimately mandates that schedule, Smith said it will impact the number of contractors who can bid on the project as well as the overall cost.

"My rough number is going to be between 10 % and 15 %, " he said, adding "You will have a labor upcost."

The Holland Avenue project will address about 2, 000 feet of the roadway, replacing broken sanitary sewer and stormwater lines beneath the street's surface as well as the large retaining wall that runs along its lower portion.

Smith said the project will go out for bid in June or July.

Also on Monday, council set April 22-25 as the dates for the city's spring cleanup.