This hillside slip along Glenwood Road in Wheeling is expected to cost around $4 million to repair because of repairs needed to the retaining wall. City leaders are expected to request Congressionally Directed Spending from federal lawmakers to help fund these needed repairs. (Photo by Eric Ayres)

WHEELING – City leaders in Wheeling are expected to request help from the federal government to repair a major slip on Glenwood Road – a hillside roadway that has presented problems for decades.

One slip is expected to be repaired this year using funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Another major slip – the biggest one in the city – is estimated to cost around $4 million to fix. City officials plan to ask federal lawmakers to include the project as a target for Congressionally Directed Spending in the next budget cycle.

With an entrance located in Fulton off of National Road just west of the Interstate 70 westbound entrance ramp near Perkins, Glenwood Road traverses directly up the hill on the side of a steep slope and onto a ridge that continues for miles. The road continues to the northeast and eventually turns into what is marked as a private drive along the top of the hill above Warwood that in sections overlooks the Ohio River.

Several homes and neighborhoods utilize Glenwood Road as the primary – and basically the only – access to their addresses or adjacent residential streets.

For decades, slips along the hillside sections of Glenwood Road have caused significant problems. The slides often create one-lane sections of passage along the already narrow route, causing a nagging inconvenience to residents, school bus drivers and other motorists traveling this road. The slips also cost a lot of money to repair.

“Currently on Glenwood Road, there are two slips that need to be addressed by the city,” Wheeling City Manager Robert Herron said. “One is larger than the other, but one was created during the rain event of April 2024 where a federal disaster area was declared for the city of Wheeling. It’s the slip near the Stackyard Road area.”

FEMA has approved funding for this project, where the slide has affected approximately 175 feet along the northwest side of the road. The cost to design and repair this section of Glenwood Road is estimated to be around $672,435, and repairs are planned for completion before the end of this year.

The construction work to repair the slip is estimated to cost around a half a million dollars, in addition to other costs associated with the project, such as engineering and design work.

“FEMA has released the funds for this slip,” Herron said. “And we have authorized Verdantas to finish designs and bid this project. So we’re moving forward with it. ”

Herron indicated that the work will most likely go out to bid within the next 30 days.

In recent weeks, AEP has performed utility relocation in the area in preparation for slip repairs, moving power lines to the hillside away from the slip near Stackyard Road. Several trees along the hillside were cut down in the area where new utility poles were installed.

“That went very well. We really appreciate AEP and their subcontractors’ cooperation,” Herron said. “I don’t think we received any complaints about people not having access. They did the work between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. and had a flagger. There may have been a little bit of a delay. But they were able to get to and from where they needed to be on Glenwood Road, so we appreciate that.

“Initially it was planned to take two weeks, but it only took one week. So that is done.”

The large road slip on Glenwood Road in this area near Stackyard Road is approximately 350 feet in length. The slip was caused by “piling and lagging wall failure,” resulting in the $4 million estimated cost for design and repairs.

During a recent visit to Wheeling, U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) was thanked for her efforts in securing the latest rounds of Congressionally Directed Spending for a number of projects around the city. She was also given a heads-up that city leaders were planning to request more funding in the next round – particularly for Glenwood Road.

“This is another neighborhood with a serious road problem,” Councilman Tony Assaro, who represents the Ward 1 neighborhood in the Fulton-Glenwood area, told Capito during her recent visit. “They’ve had a few slips on it, and currently, there’s just one way in and out.”

City leaders indicated to Capito that they would be requesting Congressionally Directed Spending – or CDS funding – to help with the larger of the two existing slips, since the smaller one has already been approved for FEMA funding.

“There’s a very large one that we just cannot afford to address,” Herron told Capito.

In the past, city leaders have targeted funds generated by the City Service Fee – or User Fee – for slip repairs, including slips that have occurred on Glenwood Road. The fee charges $2 per week to everyone who works in the city. Of those funds, half of the money generated goes toward public safety. That money is being used to pay the debt service on the new Wheeling Police Department Headquarters (around $9 million) and Wheeling Fire Department Headquarters (around $6.5 million) projects. The other half – or $1 for every $2 collected – goes to fund a prioritized list of infrastructure improvement projects.

But a bigger pool of money is expected to be needed to address the estimated $4 million slip on Glenwood Road. For perspective, the city in recent years has budgeted around $800,000 for its annual street resurfacing projects to pave listed streets and alleys throughout the city. The Glenwood Road slip is just 350 feet long, but will require major work to bolster the retaining wall along the hillside and stabilize the road.

A decade ago, residents of the Glenwood Road area submitted a petition to the city seeking action to address concerns about the poor drainage, frequent slips and narrow sections of the vital road needed to access their neighborhoods. A number of slips have subsequently occurred on various sections of the road.