City to test Belmar, Waverly as one-way streets

Oct. 16—MORGANTOWN — The city of Morgantown is hoping to improve traffic flow through a student-heavy section of town.

Earlier this week, Morgantown City Council signed off on a 90-day trial to turn Belmar Avenue and Waverly Street into one-way streets.

Damien Davis, Morgantown's director of engineering and public works, said the traffic pattern will likely switch within the next 30 days.

Once in effect, vehicles won't be able to access Waverly Street from Price Street. Traffic will instead flow on Belmar Avenue from Price Street to North High Street, and on Waverly Street from North High to Price.

Councilor Louise Michael said the change has been requested by first responders, particularly the fire department, due to the congested nature of the area.

"Belmar and Waverly are both two-way streets currently with parking on one side of Belmar. They do get narrow with a lot of traffic. There are a lot of fraternities right there, so you have different traffic with delivery vehicles. It gets congested, " Davis said. "Allowing it to be one-way circulation would help alleviate some of that congestion."

By law, the trail run will last no more than 90 days.

"We'll go through and install everything, monitor it and see how things go. We'll get comments and if everything is good, we can come back with an ordinance to make it permanent, " he said, adding "If it doesn't work out and all hell breaks loose ... we can remove the signs that day."