Downtown Wheeling Streetscape Project Work Zone Engulfs City
Eric Ayres Trending
WHEELING -- Despite some minor delays and the discovery of a few underground surprises, the massive Wheeling Downtown Streetscape Project has remained on schedule and within budget so far, as crews have continued to push ahead with a flurry of work inside a sprawling construction zone that has pretty much engulfed the heart of the city.
Main Street in Wheeling has been reduced to a single lane throughout the downtown area, with orange construction barrels lining the city's main traffic artery from the Fort Henry Bridge exit all the way to Wheeling Creek.
"They've been continuing the same work they've been doing with the sidewalk on the west side of Main Street and the storm drain that's going up 16th Street," Tony Clark, West Virginia Division of Highways District 6 engineer, said on Friday.
"In a couple of days, they'll be turning the corner onto Market Street. Then once they're done with the sidewalk on the west side of Main Street, they'll switch to the sidewalk on the east side of Main Street at the same time the sewer separation pushes up Market Street."
According to the contract's specifications, the completion date for the project is Nov. 29, 2024, and so far, that date has not been changed. Clark noted that the cost of the project has not been greatly affected by any delays or supply chain issues, as no significant change orders have been requested at this point.
Some of the delays that have been experienced have stemmed from crews finding unforeseen issues while digging into the historic city's streets. A buried rail car was discovered underground near 16th and Main streets when the sewer separation work began, and there are wires, pipes and a labyrinth of obstacles under the city streets when crews dig into them to replace sewer lines.
"There's a myriad of utilities running under the city," Clark said. "It's not like excavating a trench in an open field. They have to dig around a lot of utilities."
The long-awaited Downtown Streetscape Project will not only bring a complete facelift to the central business district's thoroughfares, it will bring significant infrastructure upgrades to the downtown, as well. Updates to underground utilities had moved forward even before the state broke ground on the $31.9 million project.
Officials in the city of Wheeling already invested in a major sewer separation down Main Street, as well as the replacement of a water main on Market Street that dated back to the 1800s. As part of the WVDOH's plans for the Streetscape project, another major sewer separation - removing stormwater from the sanitary sewer system - is a big part of the endeavor.
The sewer separation work has left 16th Street closed in recent weeks, and the work zone is now extending up Market Street.
"That will extend all the way up to 10th Street," Clark said of the sewer separation on Market Street.
Clark noted that different groups of crews are working on different aspects of the project at the same time, with some focused on the new sidewalks and curbs and others targeting the sewer work. He said there have been some discussions about coordinating work on Market Street's sidewalks to take place at the same time the sewer separation makes its way up the street, but a final decision on that timeline has not been made.
Gov. Jim Justice led the groundbreaking ceremony on the state's project in December of last year, joined by city and state officials who have worked together over the past several years to bring the highly anticipated venture to fruition.
Triton Construction Inc. of St. Albans is the general contractor on the Downtown Streetscape Project. Their crews and various subcontractors have been on site since the beginning of the year, along with state inspectors, consultants, traffic control crews, utility company representatives and other workers in a busy work zone that has left traffic delayed. Yet with a little bit of patience, motorists have been able to access any destination in the downtown despite the unavoidable construction, and most downtown businesses have remained open despite the inconvenience."
"As someone who lives downtown and walks Main and Market streets daily, I'm very cognizant of the impact that the Streetscape project is having on many of our downtown businesses," Wheeling Mayor Glenn Elliott said on Friday. "Unfortunately, there is no way to undertake a project of this magnitude without having some detrimental side effects. That said, I am very pleased to see so many members of our community be willing to take the extra few minutes it takes to drive or walk around downtown to continue patronizing these businesses.
"It is difficult to put a price on that patience, because it is absolutely necessary to help these businesses survive through the end of this project and better days to come."
Clark said the contractor's schedule makes note of holidays and busy downtown events, such as the Holiday in Lights Parade and the Ogden Wellness Weekend events. Crews are scheduled to minimize the impact of the busy community events. The upcoming weekend at the end of this month - with the Upper Ohio Valley Italian Festival and TBT (The Basketball Tournament) expected to draw hordes of people to the downtown area - should be no different, Clark noted.
"We've got several holidays and events listed in the plans that the contractor has been advised about - the Italian Festival is one of them," he said. "They'll pull as much activity back as they can in order to accommodate it."
The Streetscape will ultimately bring new sidewalks, curbs, ADA-compliant curb cuts and intersections, trees and landscaping, street lights and traffic signals, storm sewer management systems, street pavements and more to the downtown area - including Main and Market streets and a number of their connecting streets between 10th Street and 16th Street.
Despite the seemingly endless array of detour signs, traffic barrels and closed sidewalks and streets, commuters in the downtown area can catch small glimpses of finished sidewalks and curbs along Main Street. They are the tip of the iceberg of what's to come once the massive project is completed.
Until then, crews will be working to complete the master plan - one that is literally 567 pages long, according to Clark.
"It takes a full ream or so when you print it out," he said.