Monongalia County commissioners voted July 9 to approve a three‑party collaboration agreement with the West Virginia Department of Highways and Westridge Inc. to advance reconstruction of the Exit 155 interchange on I‑79.

The agreement sets a project budget of about $135 million and combines funding from the West Virginia Department of Highways (about $67.2 million), a U.S. Department of Transportation MEGA grant of about $54.3 million that the county will assign to the state for administration, and local contributions that together equal roughly 10 percent of the budget. The county and developer will continue paying design and permitting costs and will provide a cash local contribution spread over five years beginning in the fiscal year ending June 2028.

Ryan Lynch, a developer at Westridge Inc., said the agreement is “an important milestone” after years of work and described the project as the gateway to Morgantown and the region. He told commissioners the plan calls for replacing two aging bridges that carry I‑79 over Chaplin Hill Road, reconfiguring Exit 155 into a diverging‑diamond interchange, and building a two‑lane westbound flyover to bypass the Route 19/Maud Boulevard/Chaplin Hill Road (Sheetz) intersection.

The project also includes multimodal elements: a shared‑use path that will cross the Mon River Bridge and tie into the Mon River Trail system and regional trail network. Lynch said the revised scope and cost estimates led local and state partners to seek the federal MEGA grant in 2024; the county was the grant recipient and will assign that award to the Department of Highways so the state can administer the federal reporting and contracting requirements.

Secretary Rumbaugh of the West Virginia Department of Highways said the department is “thrilled with this partnership” and that the state is prepared to lead negotiations with the U.S. Department of Transportation on the timing of federal disbursements. County officials said the collaboration agreement calls for a steering committee with representatives of the three parties to monitor design, permitting, construction and public communications.

Commissioners authorized the agreement by voice vote; the motion carried and the county will now coordinate with the Department of Highways to finalize the federal grant agreement and advance advertising for construction. County officials said they will phase work so the public can see progress while the full project continues through design and right‑of‑way work.

The agreement sets a contingency and reallocation approach: if the final project cost is less than $135 million, excess funds will first be reallocated to nearby roadway projects in the Exit 155 vicinity or, if regulation or timing prevents reallocation, returned to the contributing parties according to the agreement terms.

County administrators and project partners said weekly coordination will be required to meet federal timelines and ensure locally incurred pre‑construction costs are credited toward the federal program when eligible. Officials emphasized that construction timing remains contingent on final grant agreement terms, permitting, utility coordination and the state’s construction program schedule.

What happens next: the Department of Highways will lead negotiations with the U.S. Department of Transportation on the MEGA grant implementation and will administer the eventual construction contract. Local officials and Westridge Inc. will continue to fund remaining design and permitting until the state takes the plans to bid.

The commission’s approval does not set construction start dates; project leaders said they expect phased work and that some elements could be visible within a few years, with full completion dependent on permitting, right‑of‑way and construction schedules.