Morgantown staff outline proposed paving list, say maintenance needs outpace current funding

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — City engineering staff on Tuesday presented an interactive, data-driven candidate list of streets the city proposes to pave, and told City Council members that recent assessments show maintaining current pavement conditions could cost roughly $4 million to $5 million per year. Residents asked that Pennsylvania Avenue be prioritized after a delayed water-line replacement.

The presentation by engineering staff, introduced by Damien Davis, director of engineering and public works, was led by an engineering staff member who described the pavement condition index (PCI) mapping, pavement age data and candidate streets for a proposed 2025 contract that would pave roughly 6½ to 7 miles of city streets.

The discussion matters because city leaders must balance limited paving dollars, coordinate with utility work and meet federal accessibility obligations such as ADA curb-ramp upgrades when setting which streets to include in annual contracts. Staff said the city currently spends about $1 million a year on contracted paving and that the new assessment suggested $4–5 million annually would be needed to maintain the city’s road network at its…