A now-closed Northern Panhandle bridge is going to be replaced.
U.S. Senators Shelley Moore Capito and Joe Manchin announced Friday an $87.5 million federal allocation to replace the Market Street Bridge over the Ohio River that connects Follansbee in Brooke County to Steubenville, Ohio.
“Replacing the Market Street Bridge is a major win for the safety and future growth of West Virginia, and I’m proud to help deliver this significant amount of funding to address a critical infrastructure need for our state, especially having heard from so many residents and community leaders who stressed how critical this project is for the area,” Capito said.
The state Division of Highways closed the bridge last December because of structural problems. Manchin said the new bridge will bring much-needed relief.
“This historic bridge constructed in 1905 has transported generations of West Virginians safely to their destinations,” Manchin said. “Since its closure in December of 2023, the people of East Steubenville have had to find time-consuming alternative routes to walk, bike, or drive across the river. I personally weighed in with senior officials at the Department of Transportation about the critical importance of fully renovating and reconstructing the Market Street Bridge.”
State Senator Ryan Weld, R-Brooke, told MetroNews Friday the DOH has assured him there is state money to match the federal funds allocated for the new bridge.
“It’s exciting to see something move at this speed and hopefully that will continue and hopefully that will continue and we’ll get this project completed as soon as possible,” Weld said.
State Bridge Engineer Tracy Brown told MetroNews when the bridge was closed in December that new problems were discovered Wednesday bridge’s cable anchoring system.
“There were six broken strands (twisted pieces of metal that make up the suspension cables). Within a three-month period with six broken strands, we were really concerned about some of that strands that were left being at overcapacity,” Brown said.
Weld was upset at the time with what he called the lack of communication concerning the suddenness of the closure.
“It was just all of the sudden closed. No forewarning to the public, first responders, anything,” Weld said Friday.
Motorists have been the using the Veterans Bridge less than two miles north and the new Wellsburg Bridge down river.
“It’s been a trying, a taxing time for people, because they’ve had to adjust and use the Veterans Bridge despite all of its construction it was undergoing,” Weld said.
According to a release from Capito, the funding for the new bridge comes through the Bridge Investment Program (BIP), which was established in the EPW Committee’s Surface Transportation Reauthorization Act that was included in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, signed into law in 2021.