MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — A St. Albans contractor is the apparent low bidder for the new bridge over the Monongahela River that will take traffic to the Morgantown Industrial Park.
The new bridge is seen as interim option while the proposed Harmony Grove interchange off I-79 moves through the approval process.
The state Division of Highways had estimated the work to cost between $70 and $ 80 million. The low bid from Triton Construction was $59.7 million. The DOH hopes construction can begin late this year or next spring.
The proposed Harmony Grove interchange was part of the incentive package to bring Mountaintop Beverage to MIP. Currently trucks entering and exiting the company are the streets of Westover for access, creating safety concerns.
Preliminary designs showed the bridge access would come off U.S. 119/Grafton Road in the vicinity between Scott Avenue and the Glotfelty Tire Center. The access would intersect with Smithtown Road at grade south of the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses chapel, crossing the river and connecting to Morgantown Industrial Park via Rail Street.