photo by: Eric Ayres

Wheeling city officials on Tuesday night discussed concerns raised about the new bioswales in the downtown – concrete planters constructed to help manage stormwater as part of the West Virginia Division of Highways' ongoing $37 million Downtown Streetscape Project.

WHEELING — City leaders in Wheeling on Tuesday night discussed the West Virginia Division of Highways’ ongoing Downtown Streetscape Program and the benefits of the stormwater management aspect of the work.

During Tuesday’s Wheeling City Council meeting, Councilman Dave Palmer asked City Manager Robert Herron to explain the logic behind the design of the Streetscape — particularly the many concrete planters that line the streets and sidewalks on Main and Market streets downtown, as well as the connecting streets between them.

Palmer noted that there have been concerns and criticisms expressed in the public about the configuration of these planters — known as bioswales — and the potential hazards they may pose to pedestrians.

“I understand that it is a state project, but I know that you and some of the other employees do attend meetings with them to get updates,” he told Herron. “I’m wondering — there are questions about how deep some of the planters are and what the reasoning is behind that.”

Herron explained that the bioswales are not only an aesthetic component to the Streetscape with trees and greenery breaking up the grey concrete labyrinth of walkways and crosswalks. They are also part of the stormwater management system that is an important part of the project – just as important as the new sidewalks, streets and traffic signals.

“This is as much a stormwater management project as it is a Streetscape project,” Herron said.

When The Health Plan relocated its headquarters to downtown Wheeling, it could not build at its current site without proper stormwater management, the city manager stressed.

“To attract that project, the city had to build a storm sewer from Wheeling Creek to that site because they would not have met the stormwater standards for the discharge,” he said.

The city subsequently approved additional stormwater work as a change order to the current Streetscape project for the area between 9th and 10th streets on Main Street. The city agreed to share a portion of the cost of that change order with the state in order to bring a large storm sewer pipe to the upper portion of Main Street. The city used $75,000 from its pool of American Rescue Plan Act money for the $568,000 change order, and the rest of the cost was covered by the state.

Herron explained that the addition of this storm sewer expansion will accommodate new development in this area, including the new Doris on Main apartments and the proposed Gateway Center near the Wheeling Suspension Bridge.

“One of the toughest parts of the Streetscape Project has been the storm sewer that was built from Wheeling Creek, up 16th Street and then up Market Street,” Herron said. “If you recall, it was a very big pipe, and there was very deep excavation. Again, that was for stormwater management because the downtown had a combined system. You can’t discharge stormwater into a combined system for new development.”

Calculations were done based on projections for future runoff and for rain water or storm water retention, Herron added.

“The bioswales were constructed to assist with storm water management,” he said. “They are at a depth that they would retain storm water and then drain that storm water into the newly constructed storm sewer lines at a rate that would not surcharge those lines. They are deeper than I think what most people expected. But we did confirm with DOH that they are properly designed for their standards and they will handle the stormwater in accordance with calculations that were done when the project started.”

Trees and plants in these bioswales are expected to grow and help provide a visual barrier there. The vegetation, as it grows, also plays a role in the water retention, Herron noted.

“So hopefully people will not fall or trip into them,” he said. “That is the way they were designed, as a stormwater management tool.”

Tripping hazards and ADA compliance were the focus of a crew that recently reviewed the Streetscape work for the state, Herron added.

“The West Virginia Department of Highways had a team in town about three or four weeks ago looking at trip hazards and are making recommendations to the DOH to try to mitigate those trip hazards,” Herron said. “There’s an analysis being done now on locations for potential rails. That analysis hasn’t been completed yet.”

“Herron said that was part of the recommendations that were made by the ADA team that came up to look at problems that may cause problems for people with disabilities.

“They did come up with some recommendations, and the DOH is taking those under consideration,” he said.

Rails are being considered not necessarily around the bioswales, but also in other sections of the Streetscape.

“There are other areas that are actually of more concern than those bioswales,” Herron said.

“I want to make sure that we are addressing those issues,” Wheeling Vice Mayor Jerry Sklavounakis said.

If the stormwater management system as part of the new Streetscape project works as planned once it is completed, downtown Wheeling will be ready to take on new construction without having concerns about meeting requirements for water runoff from new construction.

Officials added that previously when the downtown operated on an antiquated combined sewer and storm sewer system, heavy rains could cause storm sewer overflows to discharge raw sewage into the Ohio River or Wheeling Creek. All of the storm water from the downtown would also end up being processed at the city’s sewage treatment plant, which would be overburdened following heavy rains, as well.

“All the way around, it’s a huge project and its a very beneficial project, not only from a stormwater management perspective, but also from a future development perspective,” Herron said.

The nearly $37 million Downtown Streetscape Project is expected to continue into October of this year.