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WVDOH: Timing ‘Crucial’ on Downtown Wheeling Streetscape Project

By ERIC AYRES 6 min read

WHEELING -- Officials behind Wheeling’s long-awaited Downtown Streetscape project - which is currently out to bid - said the timing and attention to details of the complex undertaking are crucial to its success.

When West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice announced in June of 2020 that the state would provide $25 million for the project, all signs pointed to a starting date in the spring of 2021. That start date has been significantly delayed, but state officials said many factors came into play in order to get the massive project on the launch pad and ready for the highly anticipated construction phase.

"It is always better to tend to due diligence up front when a project will be impacting residents and businesses - to plan ahead and get it right," Jennifer Dooley, West Virginia Department of Transportation spokeswoman, said.

Although the city of Wheeling has been a key player and advocate for the major downtown facelift, it is a state project, and the West Virginia Division of Highways will be coordinating the work. Main Street and Market Street are major downtown traffic arteries that are part of W.Va. 2.

The Downtown Streetscape Project will bring complete resurfacing of portions of Main and Market streets as well as portions of 16th Street, along with new curbs, lighting, traffic signals, storm sewers and storm water management systems, sidewalks and more for a complete update of the city’s downtown area.

The state put the project out to bid on June 23, with a bid opening date scheduled for July 26.

Dooley noted that the construction phase of the project will impact local motorists, residents and business owners. Most of the local commuters have become used to construction downtown and around Wheeling in recent months - especially with the city’s water main replacement and sewer system upgrades downtown, and the state’s massive Interstate 70 Bridges Project, which is still ongoing.

"With major construction occurring in the Wheeling area on the I-70 Bridges and other projects, timing has been crucial," Dooley said, noting that planning for the Streetscape has been going on for years, and the project’s scale has evolved significantly. "Technical details the city of Wheeling and WVDOH have worked through in this time frame include a request by the city to consider whether or not the one-way streets could become two-way streets (that consideration required a public meeting). The city’s waterline project was another time-sensitive consideration."

Over the past several months, the city completed several underground upgrades to water and sewer systems in order to reduce any future need to dig up newly improved streets and sidewalks for utility repairs after the Streetscape project's completion.

"WVDOH plans proactively, and seeing a newly completed project torn up for a waterline project leaves a permanent mark on a fresh new project," Dooley said, adding that the many "vaults” found under the sidewalks and streets extending from the basement level of adjacent buildings had become another obstacle during the planning phase. "Technical exploration of the coal storage basements under the street and utility relocations were other issues which impacted the timing of the project through a highly congested area."

The city of Wheeling is currently wrapping up its portion of projects related to preparation for the state’s portion of the major surface work. One of the last additions to the Downtown Streetscape Project was the relocation of Nailers Way - the street that runs between WesBanco Arena and the Robert C. Byrd Intermodal Transportation Center - to connect directly with 16th Street at Main Street, making a four-way intersection.

Savage Construction Co. was the low bidder for the Nailers Way relocation project, which secured the contract last year for around $400,000. Crews were wrapping up paving on the relocated section of street and the reconfigured city surface lot outside of WesBanco Arena.

"The portion of Nailers Way -- pre-Streetscape -- is 95% complete," Wheeling City Manager Robert Herron said Friday afternoon. "We hope to open it to traffic late next week."

Herron noted that a section of the newly relocated Nailers Way near Main Street has not been excavated or paved.

"In the short term, we will temporarily stripe that part, as it is part of the Streetscape project and the storm sewer portion of the Streetscape project goes through there," he explained. "So that part will be subject to Streetscape work once that project starts."

The city is also currently finishing utility work along 16th Street near the new four-way intersection. After that work is finished, the city’s end of Streetscape preparations should be wrapped up.

"Other than the work currently being done at the intersection of 16th and Main, the city is pretty much done with its prep work for the Streetscape project," Herron said.

Later this month, after bids are opened in Charleston for the Downtown Streetscape project, state officials will review the bids and consider whether or not a contract should be awarded - while considering how escalating construction costs in the current economy may or may not factor into the impact on the $25 million set aside for the project.

Dooley indicated that it is unclear if the state will foot the bill if the bids come in higher than the originally budgeted estimate.

"It depends," she said. "WVDOH will evaluate the bids to see whether they are regular or irregular and consider other factors that arise in order to protect the taxpayers investment."

Officials noted that the Downtown Streetscape Project - originally a resurfacing project and downtown upgrade estimated to cost around $8 million - has ballooned over the years into a multifaceted downtown overhaul with an overall price tag expected to top $35 million when combined with the city’s water and sewer improvements, traffic signalization updates and other additions.

Herron has stressed that the designs for the Streetscape portion of the project alone are hundreds of pages deep, and the designs for the signalization portion of the project carries hundreds of additional pages. While the average number of "items" listed for current state projects that are out to bid range between five to 12 or as many as 50 "items," the Wheeling Streetscape Project lists a total of 463 "items" that are part of the design specifications for the work.

Although there has been concern about a potential that the Streetscape project may have to be scaled back if construction costs have a major impact on the bids, state officials indicated that they intend to move forward with the project in its entirety as designed.

"WVDOH has a complete set of plans and are committed to the project," Dooley said. "Wheeling has seen an unprecedented amount of work in recent years, thanks to Gov. Justice’s Roads to Prosperity program - including the I-70 Bridges and this wonderful project."

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