Market Street Bridge Deck Set for Replacement
Trending
WHEELING - More construction is coming to the heart of Wheeling soon, but the long-awaited repair of the Market Street Bridge has nothing to do with the flurry of activity already taking place downtown.
Locals could see the beginnings of that repair as soon as next month, allowing an important throughway in downtown Wheeling to be usable again.
The Market Street Bridge has been closed to traffic since June 7, 2022, when officials said a fire from a homeless encampment under the bridge caused damage to the span over Wheeling Creek. An inspection of the bridge later revealed that the damage was extensive enough to require a full replacement of the deck.
Market Street is part of W.Va. 2 and is the jurisdiction of the West Virginia Division of Highways. While WVDOH has been busy over the past year with several multimillion-dollar projects in Wheeling - from the Interstate 70 Bridges Project to the Wheeling Suspension Bridge rehabilitation and Downtown Streetscape Project - very little information about the status of the Market Street Bridge has been made public since details in August surfaced about engineering for a repair project being completed.
Officials from WVDOH could not be reached for comment about updates on local projects, but this week, Wheeling City Manager Robert Herron reported to city council that his office was contacted by a contractor - Charles J. Merlo Inc. - that reportedly won the bid for the bridge work.
"We did receive some good news this week," Herron told city leaders. "We were contacted by Merlo contracting out of Mineral Point, Pennsylvania. They have been awarded the contract to re-deck the Market Street Bridge."
The overall cost of the project was not disclosed, but a preliminary timeline for construction was revealed.
"They do anticipate beginning construction in late January or early February, with a completion date in late July or early August," Herron said. "So that’s good news that that project hopefully will be moving forward."
Although the deck replacement on the Market Street Bridge will be yet another major construction project in and around the downtown area, this work is not expected to be any more disruptive than the bridge’s closure has been for the past 18 months. The bridge has remained open to pedestrian traffic only, but motorists have had to detour around the bridge for about a year and a half.
Construction company Charles J. Merlo Inc. of Mineral Point, Pa., reportedly won a bid to replace the deck on the damaged Market Street Bridge in Wheeling that has been closed for 18 months. Work is expected to begin early next year with a completion date in the summer. (Photo by Eric Ayres)
"It’s additional construction, but obviously the bridge is already closed, so hopefully they can get that bridge open as soon as possible," Herron said.
The city has taken action to ban camping on public property in Wheeling beginning Jan. 1. A new ordinance prohibits people - including homeless individuals - from sleeping, storing personal property or cooking under bridges, in public parks, in parking lots, on sidewalks, in alleys and on other public right of ways.
Even if motor vehicle traffic finally resumes on the Market Street Bridge next summer, portions of Market Street in the downtown area are expected to be under construction for another year or so as the $32 million Downtown Streetscape Project continues. In addition to the section of Market Street at the bridge over Wheeling Creek, two downtown blocks of Market Street are also currently closed because of ongoing Streetscape work. However, officials are hopeful that traffic can be reopened to at least one lane of traffic after the portion of the work involving storm sewer replacement is completed after February.