Interstate 70 Bridge Project in Ohio County Will Span Years
Trending
WHEELING -- Dozens of people looked over charts and displays as officials with the West Virginia Division of Highways answered questions about the scheduled "I-70 Bridges Project" on Wednesday.
An informational meeting about the work was held at West Virginia Independence Hall. The project is scheduled to begin with preliminary work this fall and be completed by the summer of 2022.
DOH officials scheduled the meeting to help inform the public about proposed modifications to the project route, which includes the rehabilitation of 25 bridges and total replacement of one bridge in Ohio County between the Ohio state line and Middle Creek. The project also will include work on abutments and approaches.
District 6 Construction Engineer Joe Juszczak said the DOH is proposing a complete replacement of the Fulton Bridge on the westbound side of Interstate 70 between January 2020 and November 2020 as the first phase of the project. He said this will provide the contractor the opportunity to do most of the westbound bridge rehabilitation work at the same time. Juszczak said rehabilitation work includes: building new bridge decks or overlaying an existing deck and making any necessary steel or substructure repairs.
The Fulton Bridge is the only structure that will be completely replaced on both sides of I-70 as part of the project, according to Juszczak. It is the structure that spans Wheeling Creek in the Fulton section of Wheeling. Work is tentatively scheduled to begin on the eastbound side of the interstate in January 2021, following completion of the westbound work.
"The timeline for the project is, we hope to get it out to bid in June, award the contractor in August, and then it will be up to the contractor to meet the milestones we have set fourth in the contract," Juszczak said, noting all the dates set for the project are still tentative.
Juszczak was quick to remind the public that while some of the pavement rehabilitation has been "pulled back" from the project as it was initially bid last year, the bridge portion of the project has not been scaled back from initial plans.
"When it comes to the bridge portion of it, there is no scaling back," Juszczak said. "The original scope is to repair the 26 bridges, and the governor's initiative was to make sure we maintained and repaired those 26 bridges."
Juszczak said officials expect some preliminary work to begin beneath some of the bridges this fall that may not be visible from the road.
"Part of the phasing is east of exit 5 (Elm Grove) there will always be two lanes maintained. … Then during the Fulton Bridge closure, traffic will be detoured to I-470," Juszczak added.
He said while I-470 is set to be the primary detour route during the Fulton Bridge replacement phase, the DOH is still in the process of designing the final detour routes.
"Our designer is responsible for coming up with the detour routes based upon the loads, traffic counts and volumes, and that's something that has not been finalized yet," he added.
While no formal presentation was made, the public had the opportunity to ask questions and submit written comments about the project. A pamphlet was handed out that includes general project information with some construction phase details. Area Engineer Mike Witherow said the DOH is working to keep the project estimate below or around $200 million.
Several Wheeling city officials turned out for the session, including Fire Chief Larry Helms, Police Chief Shawn Schwertfeger and Ohio Valley Regional Transportation Authority Executive Director Lisa Weishar.
Helms said he attended the meeting to learn more about the closures and proposed detours and how they might affect his department's response routes. He said the fire department eventually need to put alternate plans in place for responding to calls.
Weishar said she attended the meeting in hopes of finding out more about road closures from the project and how they might affect OVRTA's bus routes.
"Our buses are going to have to adjust to this. So we want to see how long they are going to close it (I-70), and where they are closing it. It's going to affect us," she said.
Friends of Wheeling board member Jay Frey said he attended the meeting because of concerns he has about how the work might affect the Wheeling Suspension Bridge.
"We are the oldest preservation organization in the state and there's probably no structure in the state like the Wheeling Suspension Bridge, and my interest in being here is related to what kind of extra stress through traffic volume might be put on the bridge due to the closure of other spans," Frey said.
Juszczak said during the meeting that the suspension bridge is not a proposed detour route at any time during the project.
Wheeling resident Mike Trabert said his interest in the meeting was to find out more about the time frame of the project. He said he believes local roads are in "catastrophic" condition and repairs are years overdue.
"Ten years ago it was time to do something and they still haven't done it. Patches don't work," Trabert commented. I'm also concerned about what kind of problems it's going to cause on the interstate for emergency vehicles."