TRIADELPHIA - Terri Smith got her wish - the Twilight Bridge is back.
Smith and 11 of her fellow Middle Creek Road residents had been forced to use a detour that Smith deemed dangerous while the bridge was being replaced.
The bridge project wasn't expected to be finished until Aug. 31, but Dan Sikora, West Virginia Division of Highways District 6 engineer, said he planned to speak with the contractor - Ohio-West Virginia Excavating of Powhatan Point - about getting the job done sooner.
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Photo by Shelley Hanson
Replacement of the Twilight Bridge on Middle Creek Road has been completed ahead of schedule.
Apparently the contractor was able to meet Sikora's expectations, as the new bridge is now open to traffic. The project started about the last week of June.
''I went over it today,'' Smith said last Friday of the bridge. ''They were ahead of schedule. I do appreciate the guys getting it done - especially in the extreme heat. ... I want to give a big 'thank you' to the fellows who worked so hard to get it done.''
During the closure, residents had to use Halstead Road to Stone Church Road as a detour route. However, Smith said the postal service refused to use it to deliver mail, forcing residents to pick up their mail daily at the Triadelphia post office.
At first, garbage pickups were stopped because the trucks were too big for the narrow sections of Halstead Road. Sikora helped restart the service by getting the company to use a smaller garbage truck.
The bridge replacement project was designed without the use of a temporary bridge. Sikora previously said officials in Charleston likely designed the project without the temporary bridge because not many people live along Middle Creek Road.
