Interstate 70 Construction Cutting Wheeling Heritage Trail Short
Trending
Walkers and bikers will find starting Monday that a popular path will have a big roadblock in the way.
A section of the Wheeling Heritage Trail near Rock Point Road to the Tunnel Green area will be closed to all pedestrians and bicyclists beginning Monday morning. The nine-month closure is due to the demolition and construction of the eastbound side of Fulton Bridge, part of the I-70 Bridges Project, according to city and West Virginia Department of Transportation officials.
Pedestrians and bicyclists traveling west on the trail from the Elm Grove/Claytor area or east from the Tunnel Green area will not be able to travel beyond the closed section of trail near Rock Point Road. Swank Construction already had placed large orange signs on both sides of the designated bike trail closure area alerting the public to Monday's closure.
Wheeling Public Information Officer Phillip Stahl said that section of the trail has to be closed for safety reasons during the demolition and construction of the eastbound side of the Fulton Bridge because of how close that section of I-70 is to the trail.
"There's going to be a lot of construction equipment in that area," Stahl explained. "I think they plan on putting up some additional signage and some fencing," he added, while talking about detering the public from using that section of the trail.
Stahl said while it is a city trail, Swank is responsible for placing the signs and fencing in that area since it is part of an agreement in the project contract.
As of Friday afternoon, Swank had several large cranes and excavators already positioned in that area of the Fulton Bridge construction zone. Stahl said it will be more of a safety concern as crews work on the eastbound side of the highway just because of the much closer proximity to the trail.
"Especially where Tunnel Green is — the interstate runs really close to the tunnel there," Stahl added.
Any questions or concerns regarding the I-70 Bridges Project can be directed to the DOH hotline at 304-810-3214. For additional information regarding the project, visit i70forward.com.