Hinton sinkhole puts new focus on collapsing parking lot in Star City

Ben Conley, The Dominion Post, Morgantown, W.Va.
·2 min read
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Nov. 20—MORGANTOWN — There's a hole in Star City.

It's been growing there for years, slowly consuming more and more of the land that used to be the expanded Texas Roadhouse parking lot.

It's right there on Google Maps, inching closer to Monongahela Boulevard.

If you're wondering whether or not it's a cause for concern, ask the fine folks of Hinton, West Virginia, who are looking for at least $4 million to keep a sinkhole from eating their police department.

"If you've paid any attention to that sinkhole down in Hinton, we have a ticking time bomb in Star City, " Steve Blinko said. "That one is going to be $4 million to $6 million to fix, so I hope we're paying attention because that is scary to me."

Blinko is Star City's recorder. He's also the town's representative on the Morgantown Monongalia Metropolitan Planning Organization Policy Board.

He said the hole is now about two-car lengths from Mon Boulevard.

"It's the main artery to get in and out of our whole community and it affects all of us, " Blinko said.

He said the hole was also one of many factors that resulted in Texas Roadhouse relocating to Westover, just off Exit 153.

Based on photos taken earlier this year, the hole in Hinton was smaller than the one in Star City before the bottom dropped out a few days back.

According to Blinko, representatives of Morgantown, Monongalia County and the Morgantown Utility Board are aware of the situation.

MPO Executive Director Bill Austin said he's looking for applicable funding sources for a project to address it.

First steps include figuring out exactly what is below the surface in the area around the expanding void—and exactly who owns it.

Brian Carr is the West Virginia Department of Highways representative on the MPO Policy Board.

"That falls back to problem number one, which is identifying whose property it's on. Once that happens you can start working with a private entity, the state, the county, whoever it might be. Somebody is going to have to step up. Maybe it's going to have to be a shared responsibility, " Carr said. "But that's a critical artery coming into Morgantown."