Final decisions will need to be made during this new year in the city of Wheeling, and with everything Wheeling’s Council has resting on its table, it could be a pivotal 2020.
Could be.
Following is a listing of decisions that concern the Friendly City, and the determinations will be made by officials of state government, or by the six members of the City Council as well as Mayor Glenn Elliott.
Access to the East without Interstate 70?
Swank Construction from Bridgeville, Pa., was awarded the massive contract to repair about 20 bridges and ramps along the interstate in Ohio County, but those employees will replace six bridges, too, according to Ohio County Sheriff Tom Howard and W.Va. Del. Erikka Storch. The first three include the westbound spans from the Oglebay exit to Wheeling Tunnel, and Swank has scheduled that wok to take place beginning Feb. 1 and extended only to November.
Then it’s the eastbound bridges in the same area that are to be demolished and replaced, and again, in nine months. Howard believes access to the only open hospital in the county will be restricted during that process, and the sheriff offered an option to officials with the Division of Highways, a temporary Manchester Bridge that would easily link thousands of citizens and emergency personnel to Mount de Chantal Road and to Wheeling Hospital.
Howard said the idea has been rejected thus far, but can Wheeling’s mayor and Council do anything to provoke such lifesaving access?
Will Market Street Be Beautified by New Business?
Council entered into an agreement with an Arizona couple that plans to renovate four buildings within the 1400 block, and there are benchmarks in place as far as progress, according to City Manager Bob Herron. If not met, will Council pull the plug as it has been forced to do with a redevelopment project on 16th Street?
Will the W.Va. Department of Transportation Re-Open the Wheeling Suspension Bridge?
Closed for repair; opened for three weeks; closed again. But when will DOT officials announce whether or not the historic span will ever be open to vehicular traffic again? The mayor has communicated ideas to Sec. Byrd White, but the ideas were rejected, and there’s been nothing but silence since.
What about the Former Headquarters of Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel?
It was exciting to watch the downtown’s largest building get cleaned out, but there’s not been much action at the 12-story structure for months. The last report indicated that the owner and developer were working on financing and historic tax credits, so what’s the next step?
The Need Is Real, but Where?
The topic of a public safety building has been discussed for nearly two years now, and after a municipal vote rejected raising property taxes in city limits, Council approved a $2 per week User Fee with half going to toward the facility’s construction and the other funding infrastructure improvements.
But is the proposed location on 19th Street too contaminated? If not, what are the costs involved to remediate and demolish what still stands?
When Will Main and Market Be Paved?
We learned a new word in Wheeling five years ago – “Streetscape” – but the roadways remain bumpy and ugly. It was an intelligent move to have underground infrastructure projects completed before the paving, though, but are we close?
And when will the decision be made as far as the extent of the two-year project since a federal grant was awarded the Huntington area instead of to the Wheeling project? Sure, there’s money in place already for the paving, new traffic signals, and for updating the ADA sidewalk ramps, but new trees and sidewalks, too?
There could be a plethora of positive change in our municipality thanks to good decisions, and that would allow people throughout the Upper Ohio Valley to believe Wheeling is moving forward once again.
