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Wheeling Streetscape Work Reveals Subterranean Surprises

By ERIC AYRES 5 min read

WHEELING - Crews working on the Wheeling Downtown Streetscape Project are making great strides in the multimillion-dollar endeavor, but digging into the urban soil has brought all kinds of surprises to light.

None of it could be described as being "buried treasure."

From underground "vaults" - or storage chambers under sidewalks extending from basements of the adjacent buildings - to labyrinths of old underground utility lines, excavating beneath an old city like Wheeling can be like opening up a time capsule.

Last week, crews from Triton Construction of St. Albans removed an old tank-style rail car that had been buried underground near Wheeling Creek and the intersection of 16th and Main streets downtown. Triton is the general contractor that was awarded the bid for the $32 million Downtown Streetscape Project that’s being spearheaded by the West Virginia Division of Highways.

"We knew there were some undocumented underground tanks in that area," WVDOH District 6 Engineer Tony Clark said. "You never really know exactly what you’re going to run into until you start digging."

Crews have been making steady progress working on sidewalk renovations along the west side of Main Street over the course of the past several weeks. Clark said the Main Street sidewalk work and the major sewer line work that is starting near Wheeling Creek are the primary focus of the massive Streetscape project right now.

Over the course of the next two years, the city’s major downtown traffic arteries and some of their connecting streets will be getting all new sidewalks, curbs, lighting, traffic signals, trees, paving and more as part of the long-awaited Streetscape project. The work will also include major underground utility work - some of which was done by the city ahead of the project, and some that is being conducted by the state’s crews as part of the Streetscape project.

The huge array of concrete boxes seen near the excavation site adjacent to the WesBanco Arena lot and the corner of 16th and Main streets will soon become part of a new storm sewer system.

"It’s a stormwater separation project that will start at the creek and to up 16th Street and then up Market Street," Clark explained, noting that although unexpected finds like the rail car can put progress slightly behind, the Streetscape project is such a huge, multifaceted endeavor that the long-term timeline is not expected to be derailed by such an obstacle like a buried train car. "This project has enough going on to where that’s not going to have too much of an effect on the overall progress."

Clark noted that the city of Wheeling had already completed a storm sewer separation on Main Street. The city also replaced old water main lines in the downtown ahead of the Streetscape project so the newly renovated downtown thoroughfares would not have to be dug up for underground utility repairs.

"The sewer separation component of the Streetscape project is going to be very valuable, not only from an environmental perspective, but also from a future development perspective," Wheeling City Manager Robert Herron said.

Much of the city’s sewer systems were combined systems with storm water flowing into the sanitary sewer system - all of which flowed to the sewage treatment plant. The city has been working to separate combined sewer systems, building new storm sewer systems in areas throughout town as part of its long-term Water Pollution Control Plan.

Herron explained that when the new Health Plan complex was constructed downtown, the city separated the sewers and created a new stormwater system from the area of the new complex all the way down Main Street to the same area of Wheeling Creek where the state is beginning its phase of the next separation that will extend up Market Street.

One of the key reasons that the sewer separation is part of the Streetscape project is because the state will be making improvements to the intersection at 16th and Market streets that will require a reconfiguration of the storm sewer systems.

"The DOH as part of their plans for the Streetscape project intends to create a turning radius that is consistent with federal standards," Herron explained. "They’ll have to remove catch basins that are in the curb line."

A new storm sewer system from the area of 10th Street will bring rain water down Market Street and 16th Street before directing it into Wheeling Creek, and then the Ohio River.

The improved systems will also along the new sidewalks that also address rain water with bioswales - a channel with vegetation such as grasses, shrubs or flowers that channel storm water, slow it down and help filter out pollutants.

"Not only is the Streetscape a wonderful project for the city for everything it’s going to bring above ground, but it’s also a very important stormwater management project for downtown Wheeling," Herron said, noting that these underground utility improvements will be a significant asset for future economic development in the city.

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