Area bridges in spotlight
By WARREN SCOTT, Staff writerArticle Photos
WELLSBURG - Officials with the West Virginia and Ohio departments of transportation discussed the future of a proposed new Ohio River bridge between Brooke and Jefferson counties and of the three spans currently serving those counties at a public meeting Tuesday at Brooke High School.
The meeting was the second of four held by the two departments and the Federal Highway Administration to collect public comment on the new span and an environmental impact study to determine a specific location for the bridge.
A 30-member committee of public officials and community members recruited by the Brooke-Hancock-Jefferson Metropolitan Planning Commission in 2003 determined the bridge should be built between the Cardinal Plant in Brilliant to Buffalo Creek near Wellsburg following a study evaluating several locations and performed by Charleston engineers Kelcey and Edwards.
Area residents will have another opportunity to share their views while meeting one on one with state highway officials at meetings to be held from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. today at the Millsop Community Center in Weirton and Thursday at Buckeye North Middle School in Brilliant.
Lovell Facemire, an environmental project manager with the West Virginia Division of Highways, said some preliminary work has been done in determining the presence of endangered species, historic structures and other natural or manmade features that could affect where the bridge may be built.
HDR Engineering of Weirton will perform the study, which is being funded with $18 million secured by U.S. Sens. Robert C. Byrd and Jay Rockefeller, both D-W.Va., for planning and preliminary construction of the span.
Officials hope to secure additional federal funds for the bridge, which has an estimated cost of more than $100 million.
Facemire said public comment can help to bring to light environmental issues that may affect the project's direction as well as gauging the community's support for it.
HDR is expected to review which sites between the designated conditions best comply with federal and state environmental regulations set forth by the Clean Water Act, National Historic Preservation Act, Endangered Species Act and other laws.
The firm is expected to make a recommendation on the bridge's site by fall or winter of 2009, at which time public comment again will be accepted.
"We hope it will only take a year. It all depends on what we find and what the public response is," said Facemire.
Two area residents voiced their support for the new bridge while also expressing their frustration the project hasn't moved forward more quickly.
Walter Ferguson of Wellsburg said, "It needs to be built. If not, we'll lose that (federal) money. Somebody in North Dakota or another state will say, 'We'll take that money.'"
"It's been a dream for a long time," said Helen Mayle of Wells Township. Mahle said she has pushed for the bridge for several years after being approached by Russ Irvin and the late Dick Harvey, who had formed a grassroots group to promote the proposed span.
A similar group has been formed by state Del. Jack Yost, D-Brooke, and includes local and county officials, representatives of West Liberty State and Bethany colleges and community members.
Mayle said a bridge between the southern ends of Jefferson and Brooke counties would give a much overdo boost to the local economies of both areas.
"There has been so much growth at the north ends. Down here it looks like somebody choked us," she said, pointing to a map of communities along the Ohio River displayed at Tuesday's meeting.
Ferguson said there is land in Beech Bottom well suited for industrial development that would benefit from a bridge, which also would accommodate an increase in coal mining in Western Pennsylvania and other areas.
John Brown, executive director of the Brooke-Hancock-Jefferson Metropolitan Planning Commission, said opportunity for economic development wasn't the only criteria considered by the committee and engineers who recommended the proposed location from seven considered.
Brown said the area also was found to be the most cost-feasible and most beneficial in reducing travel for residents and workers in the area and increasing access by emergency services.
But even when faced with a lesser cost than for other locations, Brown acknowledged time is of the essence in moving forward with the project. He noted the general rate of inflation is about 15 percent each year, which affects costs for construction.
Brown said funds also are needed to improve access to the Veterans Memorial Bridge, a project that was named a priority by the same committee that recommended the location for the new span.
Becky McCarty, public information officer for the Ohio Department of Transportation, said officials with ODOT, BHJ and the city of Steubenville have been working together to develop strategies to address traffic congestion at the intersection of state Route 7 and University Boulevard that's expected to be heightened by the closing of the Fort Steuben Bridge next year.
She said the three parties have reduced 19 possible solutions to three that are still being explored.
(Scott can be contacted at wscott@heraldstaronline.com.)
