WVU Tech unveils latest plans for a new traffic pattern in Beckley’s University District
BECKLEY, WV (WVNS) — West Virginians are among the best drivers in the nation according to a recent study, and they are also accustomed to driving on some of the worst roads in America.
Can they learn to expertly navigate a circular junction some local motorists don’t trust, a roundabout?
This roundabout is a first for the city of Beckley. When West Virginia University Institute of Technology asked for public feedback on a proposed traffic flow change in February, many people in Beckley said they were doubtful about learning to use a roundabout, which is part of a proposed plan to make traffic flow safer along Kanawha Street in the University District.
Plans for the WVU Tech Corridor Project will be available for the public to view and for comment at the WVU Tech campus during a community meeting on Thursday, March 28, 2024.
The traffic change will offer protection for pedestrians and students by incorporating one-way traffic flow and the roundabout.
“We’re asking for the community to unite in this ‘communiversity’ project, to make not only Beckley better, but the university, too,” WVU-Tech President Dr. T. Ramon Stuart said on Wednesday, March 27, 2024.
The city of Beckley does not yet have a roundabout, but WVU Tech President Dr. Stuart, a native of McDowell County, said he and other Mountaineers learned to drive on curving mountain highways and that they can also navigate eight lanes of traffic in other cities when they have to do it, so a roundabout is not likely to be a problem.
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That said, Dr. Stuart doesn’t want to give those living in Beckley a roundabout every time they turn around. That is why the latest plans for a new traffic flow change in the University District uses only one roundabout and it is specialized.
Earlier plans had called for two roundabouts and original plans had called for four.
The single proposed roundabout in the latest plan is at Beaver Avenue and Johnstown Road. It is a “mountable” one which school buses and fire trucks may drive over if necessary. It also has extra-wide lanes to accommodate ambulances, Dr. Stuart said.
Dr. Stuart said people also had concerns about how well emergency vehicles would be able to navigate a roundabout, which is why the traffic island will be mountable for those vehicles.
Dr. Stuart inherited the traffic change which was proposed four years ago.
He said he was encouraged that the plan draws congressional funding into the city, as it did during the days of the late Sen. Robert C. Byrd.
He said he supports the plan and that he wants to develop a traffic pattern which is good for Beckley; one which takes into consideration the needs of the university.
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Other concerns shared by the public who viewed the February plan were a dislike of one-way streets and a preference of keeping Beckley’s streets the way they have been.
Dr. Stuart said a one-way street is necessary to make sure WVU Tech students, many of them young adults, and campus visitors, some of whom are children and the elderly, are safe.
“Our campus is not just for the college students,” said Dr. Stuart. “It is for the entire community.”
Dr. Stuart invited the public to visit the campus on Thursday, March 28, 2024 to see the new plans and to ask questions and offer comments. He noted that, while change is necessary to grow, most of us do not like change when we are in the midst of experiencing it.
However, he believes the traffic change will benefit the city by keeping pedestrians safe by adding a bike lane and by bringing additional funding into the city.
WVU Tech has a $35 million impact on the local economy, he noted, and his goal is to make the community part of the university and to make the university a part of the community, a concept he calls “communiversity.”
The meeting is set for Thursday, March 28, 2024, at 5:30 p.m. at WVU Tech Neville Street Auditorium.
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