Wheeling’s Latest Street Paving List Tops $600,000
Photo by Eric Ayres
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WHEELING -- Officials in the city of Wheeling are expected to approve its second street paving contract for the current fiscal year during next Tuesday’s city council meeting.
The list of streets scheduled for resurfacing as the new street paving season kicks off are included under one single contract. The street paving work was put out to bid earlier this year, and the low bidder for the project once again was Cast and Baker of Canonsburg, Pennsylvania.
Cast and Baker submitted a bid in the amount of $610,681. By comparison, other area contractors that submitted bids for the work included NLS Paving of St. Clairsville with a bid of $917,096 and Kelly Paving Inc. of McMechen with a bid of $1,181,492.
Last July, Cast and Baker was awarded the first resurfacing contract of the 2021-22 fiscal year for the city of Wheeling. That initial contract was in the amount of $1,079,722.
An ordinance authorizing Wheeling City Manager Robert Herron was introduced before city council last week and is expected to be approved following a second reading and a vote this coming Tuesday night.
On Thursday, Herron explained that this most recent paving contract is not necessarily the 2022 resurfacing projects but a second round of paving work for the current 2021-22 fiscal year.
"We actually have two contracts for the annual street paving for the fiscal year 2021-22 city budget," Herron explained. "The first was for around $1 million, which was begun in late summer and fall of 2021. With the contract that is now on next week’s agenda, the total for fiscal year 2021-22 is around $1.6 million."
The city manager noted that a new allocation for yet another paving contract will be forthcoming after the new 2022-23 fiscal year kicks off in July. A new paving list will be considered by city council in the coming weeks, Herron said.
Wheeling Vice Mayor Chad Thalman said the city has been making street paving a priority, noting that there are plenty of streets and alleys in the city that still need to be repaved, as well.
"Since 2016, city council has invested more than $5.5 million in paving streets," Thalman said. "With the passage of the ordinance, this contract will reinforce our commitment to infrastructure and paving. We realize there are many more streets and alleys that need attention, and I believe city council over the next two years will continue to make paving a priority."
Streets set to be repaved under the current contract that is up for a vote Tuesday night include: Ainswood Avenue from the notch to beginning of Brentwood Avenue, Alley 3 from Heiskell Avenue to Vista Avenue, Alum Street from Wardens Run Road to the end, Atlas Road from Rockledge Road to Oakmont Road, Bishop Street on both sides of Race Avenue, Brentwood Avenue from the top of Ainswood to the end notch, Byrd Avenue from Haddale Avenue to National Road, Crestview Drive from the entrance through the cul-de-sac, East Cove Avenue, Emerson Road from Orchard Road to Hawthorn Court, Franklin Street, Hamilton Avenue from Orchard Road to Park Road, the alley along North 18th and North 19th streets and Heritage Trail, Maple Avenue from Bethany Pike to Heiskell Avenue, Meadow Lane from Stamm Lane to Stamm Circle, North 22nd Street from the trail to Warwood Avenue, North 26th Street from Vance Avenue to Hess Avenue, North 18th Street from Richland Avenue to the alley by the trail, Park Road from Homestead Avenue to Hamilton Avenue, Poplar Avenue from Elm Street to Edgington Lane, Poplar Avenue from Heiskell Avenue to Vista Avenue, Richland Avenue from North 21st Street to North 22nd Street, Ritz Avenue, Stamm Lane from National Road to Stamm Circle and to Meadow Lane, View Street from Anderson Avenue to the northeast side of Race Avenue, Washington Avenue from the bridge to National Road and Woodlawn Avenue from Pine Avenue to Poplar Avenue.
The most talked-about streets that need paved in the city of Wheeling are likely the downtown streets, particularly Main and Market streets, which over the past year or so have been transformed into a mosaic of patches of pavement and contract in the wake of major water and sewer line replacements. The state of West Virginia has committed $25 million toward the Wheeling Downtown Streetscape Project, which officials are hopeful will soon go out to bid.
Another project set for approval next Tuesday is a pilot program for the assessment of sidewalks that need repaired in the city. An ordinance authorizing the city manager to transfer funds in the amount of $19,985 to Precision Safe Sidewalks LLC received a first reading during last week’s city council meeting.
If approved, the pilot assessment program will focus on neighborhoods on Wheeling Island, in Warwood and in Woodsdale. Cost of the pilot program will be charged to the city’s regular Restricted Capital Improvement Program (RCIP) fund.