Real bias attacks false bias

The Dominion Post plumbs new depths of unintentional comedy with their huffy editorial today complaining about bias in a questionnaire regarding truck traffic in the city of Morgantown.

As almost everyone knows, WV Route 7 meanders through busy commercial districts (Sabraton), residential areas and downtown Morgantown. The result is no surprise: noise, congestion (especially at lights when the heavily-laden trucks brake slowly to a stop at red lights and 'accelerate' even more slowly at green), diesel smoke, and roads pulverized by the weight of the trucks, to say nothing of curbs and sidewalks damaged by these, er, professional drivers. Route 7 is also infamous for the 'hogback' turn which involves a near-180 on the side of an incline no less. Finally, the trucks must crawl through downtown and make a tricky left turn at the bottom of a relatively steep hill. What could go wrong?

Incredibly, there is a perfectly good Interstate and federal four-lane highway (US 119) that would carry the trucks to the same destination (a depot along the Mon River). An alternate route (Greenbag Road) that carries far less traffic was used during a construction period and worked well for all. But for reasons known only to governments and engineers, the trucks are kept off the freeways and on the narrow two-lane roads through the heart of the city. Occasionally a lame excuse about fuel costs, shortest distances, etc. is trotted out but is it better for trucks to idle in traffic and take 3 hours to make a round trip of 20 miles or is it better for trucks to be moving and make a round trip of 2 hours/25 miles?

It's been a problem for years but attempts to address or even discuss the problem are routinely squelched by the Raese family, owners of Greer Limestone (whose 'aggregates' fill the third-party trucks) and owners of the Dominion Post. Ironically, the trucks rumble by the Greer Building (which houses the DP offices) every day.

The DP's editorial is of the 'kill the messenger' variety but with a twist: they don't want the message issued in the first place. Local residents, unsurprisingly, know the most about the problem but apparently this is unacceptable. Instead, the DP wants a 'professional agency' (the same kind that made a hash of property assessments?) or the DOH (not exactly known for their rapid and targeted response).

Predictably, the DP emphasizes that the trucks are using designated state routes and such routes are beyond the purview of city agencies. But if these same routes are the city's arterial roads and choked by trucks that could very easily be diverted. Win-win scenarios are invisible to those determined to preserve the status quo at all costs.

And so, a newspaper that is irreversibly biased by virtue of its links with the trucks decries the Morgantown Traffic Commission's attempt to simply GATHER information. It's not a law, a ballot issue or even a referendum, simply a survey. What are the chances that if and when the city attempts to discuss the issue the Dominion Post will assail the city for a lack of data?

The editorial is like asking the elves what they think of Santa.