The conversation likely went something like this:
Division of Highways: “Hey, just to let you know, we have scheduled paving for Main and Market streets for next spring.”
Wheeling: “Oh, OK, but can we talk about that first?
DOH: “Well, sure we can. What do you have in mind?”
The curbs remain just as cracked as they were then, the sidewalks are uneven, too, and the traffic signals and their timing have not made sense in downtown Wheeling for more than a decade. But suddenly there was a chance for all that to change.
“When that discussion began,” said Wheeling City Manager Bob Herron, “DOH came up with about a $9 million price tag back then, but that’s changed quite a bit. With everything included, it’s more than $30 million, but that’s because a lot more has been added. So, yes, it’s going to be a little longer until Main and Market finally get paved.”
Turbulence to Say the Least
Gas lines and sewer pipes have been repaired and replaced in the past three years, and those projects resulted in delays and bumpy travel on Main and Market, but those projects can be considered proactive on the part of the city because the intention was to prevent cutting into the new pavement.
Most of the underground infrastructure in downtown Wheeling, after all, was installed more than a century ago.
“As an example, the water main that’s being installed right now is replacing one that was put in back in the late 1800s,” Herron said. “It’s impossible to know how long it will be until the new pavement will have to be cut into to fix something, but we’re trying to prevent it by doing all of this work before the project gets started.
“But those roads are rough right now, and the folks with DOH are very familiar with the condition of Main and Markets streets, particularly Main Street,” the city manager explained. “And they are horrific, and that’s why everyone involved wants to get this project moving forward as soon as possible. Those streets have been paved since I came to Wheeling in 2001, but I don’t remember what year that was because it was a long time ago.
No Two Ways About It?
Wheeling Mayor Glenn Elliiot instigated a conversation involving the possibility of making Main and Market streets two way instead of Main traveling south, and Market taking motorists north. A traffic study was conducted by the DOH, and the idea was found to be an applicable one.
Downtown residents and businesses, however, soundly rejected the proposal. The president of the Wheeling Chamber of Commerce, Erikka Storch, even had to release a statement in opposition.
“The mayor’s idea just didn’t make sense to a lot of our members in downtown Wheeling, and they told him that in more than one meeting,” Storch said. “Because the mayor continued that conversation, it was the decision of our board to release the statement so the improvements to Main and Market streets could finally move forward.”
Herron said he expects the project will begin this summer.
“The review process on the district level has taken time, but that’s because we all want to avoid any delays when the plans move to the state level,” he said. “We’ve actually taken an extra month on this level to review everything, and our hope is by doing that it will remove a month from the beginning of the project.
“The streetscape came up because at that time we were negotiating with The Health Plan to bring them to downtown Wheeling. The CEO, Jim Pennington expressed concerns about the condition of the downtown sidewalks,” Herron explained. “So, that became part of the package agreement that we made with The Health Plan so they would build the new headquarters in the 1100 block of downtown.”
