WHEELING, W.Va. — The West Virginia Department of Transportation (DOT) has released part of its 2021 rehabilitation plan for the historic Wheeling Suspension Bridge.
The national historic landmark connecting downtown Wheeling and Wheeling Island has been closed to vehicular traffic since October due to damage sustained from overweight vehicles riding on it last summer.
Mayor Glenn Elliott told MetroNews on Monday that the DOT’s Division of Highways release of plans is “good news” for the hopes of reopening the bridge at some point.
“We certainly hope at the end of the day it’s going to come up with a plan to reopen the bridge in some partial capacity,” he said. “Obviously, what was going on before with a lot of oversize vehicles using the bridge, that cannot be tolerated.”
Elliott said the plan, which now heads to a public comment period through June 4, will primarily work on the vaults and structure holding the cables together. There could also be a complete replacement for some cables on the bridge.
Released plans by the DOT only detailed some closures associated with the project. The bridge spans over the Ohio River including the Wheeling Heritage Trail, Ohio River Trail segment.
The DOT said the temporary closure of the popular trail on the downtown side of the river will be required to ensure the safety of trail users during construction.
“I think the main impact is closing down Heritage Trail for some period of time. That trail is used a lot by bikers and walkers throughout the city. We will have to work to find a detour for that,” Elliott said.
On the Wheeling Island side of the Ohio River, the bridge has a lateral stay cable anchored in the area designated by the City of Wheeling as Gateway Park southwest of the bridge and will require contractor access to replace the cable.
The DOT release said the cable anchorage is located in a currently undeveloped area of Gateway Park, and construction is not expected to interfere with any park amenities proposed to be in place during the construction period.
These closures will be coordinated with the city with a 14-day advanced notice being published.
VIEW: The DOT’s plan for rehabilitation of the Wheeling Suspension Bridge
Elliott said the bridge, which is only open to pedestrians and bikes at this time, has not had major work on it in at least 20 years. In the fall, Elliott sent multiple ideas to the DOT about reopening the bridge but those were rejected.
DOT officials have said they will wait until the rehab project is complete to evaluate usage of the bridge, which is 170 years old.
“There’s nothing quite like it in the state of West Virginia. It’s a treasure we have here,” Elliott said of the bridge.
“It’s good news to see the state is committing to it, not only keeping the bridge standing but potentially reopening to traffic and bringing it back into service.”
Elliott told MetroNews the DOT has plans to put the project out for bid this fall with an estimated start date of spring 2021.
The state is encouraging individuals to provide comments on the effects of the project online or by mailing to RJ Scites, P.E. the Director of the Engineering Division at West Virginia Division of Highways. The address is 1334 Smith Street, Charleston, West Virginia 25301.
The DOT could not be reached for comment on Monday.