WHEELING, W.Va. — Wheeling Mayor Glenn Elliott says the city will ‘do whatever it takes’ to preserve the historic Wheeling Suspension Bridge while attempting to reopen it to vehicular traffic.
Elliott speaking with MetroNews days after the state Division of Highways (DOH) rejected a bid submitted on proposed repair work in 2021, forcing another setback for the 171-year old structure.
“Our first and foremost concern is getting the bridge not only rehabbed but saved for the future,” Elliott said. “We would like to see the bridge reopened to vehicle traffic at some point down the road.”
State Department of Transportation Secretary Byrd White said Tuesday the only bid to come in recently for the work was more than $17.7 million, way over the proposed budget for the project of $ 8.8 million.
The bridge called the ‘Gateway to the West’, sits next to the Fort Henry Bridge portion of Interstate-70 that goes across the Ohio River. The structure connects Wheeling Island to downtown Wheeling.
“We are committed to doing the right thing, the right way, for the Wheeling Suspension Bridge and for the taxpayers of West Virginia,” White said in a news release this week.
“Due to the historic nature of the bridge, there are a lot of factors of which we have to be mindful. The single bid we received was more than double our engineering estimate. In this case, we decided that the reasonable approach would be to take another look and hopefully attract more competitive bidders.”
As the bridge remains closed to vehicular traffic, the DOH now plans to take another look at the project to see if there are ways to save money on it before deciding whether to re-advertise for new bids.
Elliott sent suggestions to the DOH in the past year on how to reopen it safely to vehicles such as making it a toll bridge or more solid barriers to enter. He said Thursday that he would like the DOH to review them.
The new work review could take up to six months and Elliott said if a bid is found, work may not begin until late 2021.
Elliott said he spoke with White at the end of last week about the entire situation moving forward.
“Everything that the secretary told me is that the DOH is still committed to keep that bridge there. We consider it not only a Wheeling treasure, a state treasure, but a national treasure,” Elliott said.
“It’s one of the oldest bridges of its kind and has an important historical significance.”
The bridge sustained significant damage in June 2019, days after celebrating its 170th birthday, when an oversized bus crossed it, causing damage to its cables. It reopened in August 2019 with further restrictions, only for it to be closed less than a month later due to the continuation of oversized vehicles using it.
DOH officials have told MetroNews that after the first incident in June of last year, an in-depth inspection was done by state and local officials. The inspection uncovered an issue in one of the anchorages that retained the ends of the cables.
Elliott said while the city wouldn’t mind seeing the bridge continue to remain open to only foot and bike traffic, he would prefer vehicles being able to use it again one day.
“Going forward we are looking for more economic development to both on the downtown side of the Suspension Bridge and the Wheeling Island side of it. We think to have an extra bridge right there for vehicular access would be good for economic development down the road,” he said.
“It’s certainly important for it to open for the communities living there.”