Wood County Commission, Piersol talk paving the way for West Virginia University at Parkersburg road project
Wood County Economic Development Executive Director Lindsey Piersol appeared before the Wood County Commission on Monday to sign a resolution so funding can be applied for that will handle some of the work along 12th Street in Vienna that will eventually connect to the new West Virginia University at Parkersburg Innovation and Technology Center. (Photo by Brett Dunlap)
PARKERSBURG — The Wood County Commission approved a resolution so funding can be applied for that will handle some of the work along 12th Street in Vienna that will eventually connect to the new West Virginia University at Parkersburg Innovation and Technology Center. Wood County Economic Development Executive Director Lindsey Piersol appeared before the commission on Monday for the commission to approve a resolution that would allow them to apply for funds through the Industrial Access Road Program with the Department of Highways. They are seeking $400,000 in unmatched funds and $150,000 in matching funds (totaling $300,000) which would have a grand total of $700,000. The funding would be used for the expansion of 12th Street between Lowe’s and Sam’s Club in Vienna past the Neale Cemetery and before the entrance to the Wyndemere neighborhood. The total cost of the road is expected to be around $2.5 million. Plans are for the remains of Maplewood School to be torn down and cleared for construction of a new business/manufacturing facility in the gym and pool areas. The business will initially hire 10 people to do a form of manufacturing work Piersol said could help counter some tariff costs by producing items in the U.S. The company, which Piersol has not named yet, will work with WVUP students who will be able to do research and development work at the site. The business will have multiple 3-D printers and the materials that go into that. Commissioner Jimmy Colombo said an issue a number of people have is as they are leaving Sam’s Club, they are having trouble seeing what is coming down 12th Street due to the placement of the cemetery. “It is being discussed how to rectify that situation,” Piersol responded, adding there are discussions about widening a nearby bridge and updating the road as well as personnel discussing how to best handle traffic coming out of Sam’s Club. Colombo said traffic is expected to increase along 12th Street substantially once the road is completed to the new WVUP Innovation and Technology Center Campus at the site of the former Ohio Valley University campus. “I just hate to think of a bottleneck being there,” Colombo said, to which Piersol responded that the engineers are aware and they are looking at different ideas on how to address it. “It is an intensely used road that will only get busier,” she said. Piersol also talked about the new Vienna Elementary School being built on the former OVU soccer and baseball fields as well as a housing development with around 75 single-family homes. There are also some spots slated for commercial development as Piersol said developers have reached out about building retail businesses. “It will be very exciting,” Couch said. There are over 125 students taking classes at the Innovation and Technology Center which opened for classes in August. They are expecting over 300 students by its third year of operation. The new elementary school is expected to have an enrollment of around 600 students. Piersol said WVUP’s enrollment was up at a time when a lot of schools are seeing a decline in enrollment. Piersol will be sending the application for the funding to the state office of Economic Development. Once it is signed off on, it will go to the state highway department. She is expecting it will take around six weeks before they hear anything about possible approval. Commissioners talked about possibly scheduling a tour of the Innovation and Technology Center for sometime in the near future. Brett Dunlap can be reached at bdunlap@newsandsentinel.com.