Mall Road Bridge May Open Saturday in St. Clairsville
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ST. CLAIRSVILLE -- After nearly two years of construction work, the Mall Road bridge over Interstate 70 could be in use as soon as Saturday.
Brett Porter, Ohio Department of Transportation area engineer for District 11, provided an update on the status of the work. He set a tentative opening date of Sept. 15, with an optimistic goal for total project completion as early as Oct. 31, depending on the relocation of natural gas and phone lines.
"Right now we're dealing with some utility issues, but we are hoping. Mid-September is our goal right now," Porter said. "What we'll do is open the section of the road from (U.S.) 40 across the new bridge to (Buffalo Wild Wings) and (The Residence Inn), and at that time we will close to road between (Buffalo Wild Wings), the hotel and the mall for five weeks to rebuild that -- a portion of the county road between those two businesses and the mall, to realign that through there."
He said ODOT continues to talk to those businesses, ensuring their utility service will be maintained while ODOT addresses such issues as stormwater drainage and road drainage from surface runoff.
"We've encountered in our draining work … we've encountered water and communications and electric (lines)," he said. "We need to have those relocated so that it works with our drainage. Once those are relocated and our drainage is put it, we can see whether we're going to make that date or not." he said.
"That's what we're shooting for," he said of opening the bridge Saturday.
The project could be totally complete by Oct. 31, but Porter said utility issues might move the completion date to the end of 2018.
The project has included local funding partners, along with the Transportation Review Advisory Council, which approved funding of $3.9 million in 2015. The formation of the Belmont County Transportation Improvement District was another factor in preparing for the project. The TID provided $1.1 million, as well as the design and construction of Phase I.
Belomar Regional Council provided $1 million, and the Governor's Office of Appalachia provided $500,000. Private right-of-way donations also were provided by the Cafaro family that owns the Ohio Valley Mall and by Rob Stein of St. Clair Commons. The earliest funding source was an earmark from 2005 for close to $7 million.
The project includes the construction of the 1.67-mile connector road from U.S. 40 across Interstate 70 to the intersection of Mall Road and Banfield Road, reconstructing 0.59 miles of the existing Mall Ring Road and building the new bridge over I-70.
The road will continue north from there to Phase I of the Commons Mall Crossing Road, built by the Belmont County TID in 2015, which connects to U.S. 40. The goal is reduce traffic congestion and increase access to the retail sites in the area, including the Ohio Valley Plaza and the Ohio Valley Mall.