The decision on whether or not the Wheeling Suspension Bridge ever will open to vehicular traffic will not be made locally but instead by Department of Transportation officials in Charleston.
Tony Clark, district engineer in District 6, confirmed that the renovation design process is expected to be completed soon with the bidding process to follow. District 6 includes Tyler, Wetzel, Marshall, Ohio, Brooke, and Hancock counties.
“I have not received updated information on the district level on it recently, and the project is being handled by our engineering department on the state level,” Clark explained. “I do know the design process should be about done and when it is, the project will go out for bid.
“I believe the bridge will remain closed until after it is re-evaluated,” he said. “The intention is to preserve the structure. A decision has to be made if having traffic on the span is safe for its prolonged life, and right now I do not know if that determination has been made. Ultimately, we want to make sure the structure is still there in perpetuity.”
Delay After Delay
Although addressing the Suspension Bridge’s integrity has been a scheduled project for eight years, delays, cost projections, and higher priorities have pushed back to the renovations that were expected to include some beautification work, as well.
But then a pair of drivers of motor coaches decided to take their buses over the historic span although large signs inform motorists of the bridge’s 2-ton weight limit. The structure was shuttered each time for inspections and repairs and then reopened. However, on Sept. 24, 2019, the original “Gateway to the West” was closed for a third time only three weeks after it was reopened following the second bus.
The closure limited residents of Wheeling Island to a one-way-on, two-ways-off situation because of the limited access caused by the beginning of the Interstate 70 bridge projects.
“The closing of the structure was a decision made by state officials, and those people will determine whether or not it will remain just a pedestrian bridge,” Clark said. “I know they are taking a hard look at an issue with one of the anchorages on the downtown side of the span, and those anchorages essentially support the full bridge because they support the suspension cables. That was one of the major issues.
“But no, I am not going to have to make that decision,” he confirmed. “That decision will be made in Charleston. They took control because of the historical importance of the Suspension Bridge.”
How the West Was Won
It flipped once, and much of it fell into the Ohio River. A strong windstorm destroyed its decking just two years after it opened, but the Wheeling Suspension Bridge was repaired and reopened a little more than two years later.
There were battles over constructing the span that climbed as high as the congressional level, but in the end, pioneers were able to safely cross the main channel of the Ohio River with their horse and buggies headed west.
“There is just so much history concerning the Wheeling Suspension Bridge, and that is why it is important to protect it for the future,” said Jeanne Finstein of the Friends of Wheeling. “I do hope they are able to figure out how it can be reopened to vehicles by making it what it once was back in the beginning. A toll bridge.
“That could be the best way to make sure the weight limit is enforced as well as the 50-foot interval rule,” the historian said. “It would certainly help stop another bus from going over it.”
