Nearly $90 million awarded for Market Street Bridge replacement

Officials from both sides of the Ohio River celebrated Friday following the announcement that nearly $90 million had been awarded to the West Virginia Department of Transportation to fully replace the deteriorating Market Street Bridge.

The $87.5 million awarded to the WVDOT’s Division of Highways comes from the federal Bridge Investment Program, a “competitive grant program to assist the repair and replacement of deficient and outdated bridges and ease the national bridge repair backlog,” according to a release from Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown’s office.

Friday’s announcement marks a massive return for the WVDOH, which applied to the BIP in the fall, requesting $175 million to replace the Market Street Bridge, a structure that has sat in limbo for nearly seven months after its closure due to continuing structural issues.

Administered by the U.S. Department of Transportation, the BIP was created by the Bridge Investment Act, which was first introduced by Brown, D-Ohio, in 2018, approved by the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee and established the EPW Committee’s Surface Transportation Reauthorization Act. That act was subsequently included in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which was signed into law by President Joe Biden in 2021.

In its release, Brown’s office credited the funding award to the joint effort among him and the WVDOT, Ohio Department of Transportation and Brooke-Hancock-Jefferson Metropolitan Planning Commission.

“After hearing concerns from residents and local officials, we are finally going to replace the dilapidated Market Street Bridge and reopen a major thoroughfare that connects Ohio and West Virginia,” Brown said.

Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., the highest-ranking member of the EPW Committee and a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said in a release: “As we wrote and negotiated the infrastructure bill in the EPW Committee, we made it a priority to provide specific funding to repair and replace major bridges like the Market Street Bridge, which is a crucial thoroughfare for workers, residents, and visitors in our state every day.

“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.”

In their respective releases, Brown and Capito were noted to have sent letters of support for the WVDOH’s application to Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, advocating for federal funding to replace the Market Street Bridge.

Sen. Joe Manchin, I-W.Va., a member of the Appropriations Committee, said in a release: “This historic bridge constructed in 1905 has transported generations of West Virginians safely to their destinations.

“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, and I am hopeful that today’s announcement will provide much needed relief to impacted residents. As a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, I will continue advocating for resources to bolster our transportation infrastructure across the Mountain State,” Manchin said.

Following a routine inspection, the WVDOH indefinitely closed the bridge to vehicular and pedestrian traffic Dec. 21, prompted by the continued deterioration of some of the 119-year-old bridge’s cable anchorages. Quarterly inspections had been conducted since June 2022, and the bridge’s most recent inspection began June 24 and is ongoing.

Closure of the bridge, which connects an area of Brooke County between Weirton and Follansbee with downtown Steubenville, has been a hindrance to commerce and transportation. The bridge links West Virginia Route 2 with Ohio Route 7 and acts as a traffic reliever for its northern neighbor, the Veterans Memorial Bridge, which carries U.S. Route 22 across the Ohio River.

Mike Paprocki, executive director of the BHJ, said the announcement’s timing was a surprise, but he’d been fairly confident that the funding would come through. He noted it’s great to have received the funding now, prior to the upcoming general election, as it saves the replacement project from uncertainty around the priorities of new lawmakers who might be elected.

“We don’t know if Congress or the president are going to reauthorize these programs. To have (funding) locked in today makes it done,” Paprocki said.

Paprocki said Brown, Capito and Manchin had all been “strong supporters of this project,” with Brown’s office co-authoring the BIP.

BHJ’s role in the project began in the late 1990s, when the interstate planning commission began its Bridge Systems Study Report to “take a critical look at the existing infrastructure of the Ohio River crossings.” The commission emerged from the study with three priorities: Improve access to the Veterans Memorial Bridge, build another bridge somewhere between Wellsburg and Brilliant and replace the Market Street Bridge.

As for that third priority, Paprocki said, the BHJ has supported various means to attaining it. Most recently, efforts included backing the WVDOH’s application to the BIP, which was brought about through the BIL — voted for by Brown; Capito; Manchin; former U.S. Rep. David McKinley, R-Wheeling, and former Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio.

The $87.5 million comes in at exactly half of the $175 million requested in the WVDOH’s application, Paprocki said. However, he considers funding a done deal, considering the WVDOT and ODOT’s commitment to fulfilling the project. If the two state agencies weren’t committed, they wouldn’t have received the funding, he added.

According to the application, a replacement bridge will take between eight and 12 years to finish, Paprocki said. Preliminary studies will be needed to determine the new bridge’s location, and it’s “possible” there will be historical preservation processes to undergo. The bridge itself will be a “full, multi-modal bridge” with pedestrian and bike facilities, as per the state DOTs’ wants.

Follansbee Mayor David Velegol Jr. said Friday’s announcement is “fantastic news,” and he thanked all local leaders involved in the application process, a period filled with “a lot of calls” among officials working in a “great team effort.” Regarding the senators who had a hand in the application’s success, Velegol said, “I think that they heard our voices, and this is a great day for the Ohio Valley.”

Velegol said he was surprised by the application’s quick turnaround, and he believes it was the result of the project’s urgency being understood by all parties. Though the announcement is encouraging, Velegol said he would like to see the construction process expedited.

Steubenville Mayor Jerry Barilla said it was an “exciting day,” and an affirming one that shows officials were listening after all.

“The cry of the people — who have cried so much over these last several months since the bridge has been down that we need a new bridge — has finally been heard,” Barilla said. “When there’s enough people out there saying, ‘Hey, we need a new bridge,’ then finally, the people who are in those positions who can make those decisions finally listen.”

Lauding BHJ as a “monumental partner” in connecting the various local leaders during the application period, Barilla said he’ll hopefully be around to see the replacement bridge completed. Barilla noted the bridge will play a crucial role in connecting traffic between West Virginia and Ohio, and it will play host to the Great American Rail Trail, a planned cross-country trail that spans 3,700 miles between Washington, D.C., and Washington state and promises a number of economic benefits for the communities it intersects.