New Woodburn Community School

MORE VIOLATION

The Greater Morgantown Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) site shows that the WV Division of Highways (DOH) right-of-way at the 705/Mileground intersection extends into what would be the Eastwood Elementary campus internal bus circle at the front door of the school to-be-built. (See below, or see page 6 of the PDF “Flyer” for the Jan. 24th DOH meeting at Easton Elementary, the DOH right-of-way boundary.)

That violates the DOH Driveway Manual Rules and Regulations for mid-size community facilities along state roads (page 36, “Internal Circulation”), which requires a minimum of 120-150 feet setback for such a feature, not a less-than-zero foot setback.

In fact, the school building itself, including the front door, would be only 120-150 feet from the DOH arterial highways right-of-way. In other words, the campus bus loop, by DOH Rules and Regulations, is supposed to be where the building is, and the building is supposed to be beyond that. Which can’t happen because there is no room, nothing but a drop-off beyond.

If the DOH allows such a violation of its Rules and Regulations, which are safety provisions, and if there is a serious accident in relation to the disregard of such regulations, then the DOH should be added to a growing list of institutions and individuals that should be held accountable for civil and criminal liability upon a calamity.

Pictured above in yellow are the current “principal arterial highways,” and their intersection: WV 705 at bottom and US 119 (Mileground Road) at right.

In red are these arterial highways pictured after their $47 million expansions to 4 lanes (WV705) and 5 lanes (US 119) in 2 or 3 years.

In purple is Eastwood Elementary, scheduled to be built then opened in about a year.

In blue is the DOH right-of-way for its highway expansion.

In pink are the planned internal campus drives of Eastwood Elementary.

In orange is the location where Sheetz has schematically designed a gas station that it is eager to build by Eastwood Elementary.

The Eastwood Elementary school site borders and extends along WV 705 and across the entire intersection with US 119 (Mileground Road) and along the Sheetz gas station intended site. The right-of-way for the DOH highway expansion covers a substantial portion of the school site close to the front and main doors of the planned school.

These facts, and more, render the new school site a sweeping violation of West Virginia state student safety and new school site Rules as we have documented extensively. The recent and predictable delineation of the DOH arterial highways right-of-way makes the violation and the potentially lethal safety risk of young students ever more clear, and it makes yet another state agency liable and culpable.