Although an official start date has not been announced for the long-awaited streetscape in downtown Wheeling, the city manager advises business owners located along Main and Market streets to contact him when construction causes issues.
The streetscape project, on the drawing board since 2015, went out for bid in late June, and those proposals were revealed earlier this week. Triton Construction out of St. Albans, W.Va., entered the low bid at $31.9 million, Swank Construction was next at $36 million, and Ohio-W.Va. Excavating was third with a bid of $37.2 million. The state’s projection was $30 million with the City of Wheeling contributing nearly $2 million.
Whether or not officials with the state Division of Highways will approve one of the contractor’s bids has not been announced, and messages left for District 6 Engineer Tony Clark were not returned Tuesday or Wednesday. The streetscape proposal already was in development when Clark arrived at the District 6 office in 2016, and since then he has navigated a plethora of conversations with elected leaders from Wheeling and Charleston.
“There’s no getting around the fact that it’s going to be tough for everyone once the project begins in downtown Wheeling and very difficult at times for our downtown business owners,” Herron said. “We will be communicating to those owners as often as possible so they know what to expect near their businesses, and hopefully we’ll be able to let them know the timing of the sidewalk demolitions because we do realize how important that information is to those owners.
“Sure, everything is going to be great when the streetscape is completed, and everything looks great downtown, but the business owners who are there now are concerned, and I don’t blame them,” he added. “And if any of those owners has ideas on how to make it better for them, they should feel free to reach out to me so we can discuss their idea. If it makes it less painless, and it’s possible as far as the city is concerned, I’d love to discuss it now instead of later.”
Smooth Comes Last
All most motorists want in downtown Wheeling are smooth roadways, and it is likely the majority of them do not realize at this time that the paving process will not take place for two years from now.
The curbs, ADA ramps, sidewalks, traffic signals, and stormwater sewer installation all must take place first.
“And that’s fine at this point,” said Matt Welsch, owner of the Vagabond Kitchen on the corner of 12th and Market streets. “I know it was smart that the city did all of the underground projects before this project got started, but every time another hole was dug and orange barrels went up, our business declined because people just don’t want to deal with it.
“We’ll do what we have to do just like we did during the pandemic and during all of the construction that’s taken place already, and we’ll do our best to let the people know what’s good to eat and where they should park during that time,” he said. “Let’s just hope it goes well and gets finished quickly.”
At some point, once the project is underway, the walkways on both the east and west sides of Main and Market streets will be removed and replaced, and that means the Vagabond Kitchen along with every other business will be without a front entrance for a short period of time. The timing for that construction, Herron said, will be shared with the appropriate owners.
“We’re going to do everything possible in an effort to minimize the negative impact the streetscape project has on the businesses in downtown Wheeling. I know some of them had a hard time during all of the infrastructure projects we’ve done in preparation for the streetscape, but we’re going to examine what we can do better,” Herron explained. “But one warning I do have to give everyone, and that is that this streetscape does involve our sidewalks. The sidewalks will be removed and replaced, and that’s going to be a tough process.
“I have been through major streetscapes before. This will be my third, in fact, and I can tell you that traffic will move through, but pedestrian traffic is going to be tough at times because of the sidewalks, but also because of the storage vaults that are underneath most of the sidewalks we have on Main and Market streets,” he said. “Part of the plan, though, is that the contractor will maintain access to all of the buildings. But yes, there is going to be some inconvenience.”
10 Years Plus Two Decades
Tunnels?
Or vaults?
Or both?
That is one mystery the upcoming streetscape project may just finally solve for the city’s history buffs.
“What we ran across in the mid-1990s sure looked like tunnels,” said Rusty Jebbia, the retired director of Public Works for the City of Wheeling, about what he saw during the most recent streetscape in downtown Wheeling. “That was in 1995, and we had heard about the tunnels for a lot of years but didn’t know if it was true. Based on what I saw back then, all I can say is there was something.
“Maybe this time, since it’s a more extensive project, they’ll find more evidence of what, but who knows? I guess time will tell,” he said in May. “Now, we have uncovered the storage vaults, too, so maybe that’s what we saw, but that was a long time ago now.”
One thing is for sure, according to Herron, and that is the streetscape project will enhance the chance for future economic development between 10th and 16th streets.
“Once this project is complete, it’s going to help the businesses we already have in downtown Wheeling because the area is going to be much more attractive to everyone who goes there for whatever reason,” Herron said. “It will also help with the future of economic development in our downtown. We have promoted downtown living for several years, and right now we have the Doris on Main project that will feature more than 50 apartments once completed, and we have the ongoing renovation of the Wheeling-Pitt building that will offer more than 100 units when finished.
“It’s about getting that critical mass into the downtown area, and once that takes place, I believe we’ll see more of the private sector getting involved with adding businesses,” the city manager added. “The businesses aren’t going to open until the people are in place. That’s the way it works, and this project is a big part of it.”
