The West Virginia Department of Transportation recently announced it is nearing the completion of the $215 million I-70 Bridges Project in the Wheeling area.
Painting, concrete repairs, and other minor work are the last that remains to be completed.
“Any traffic impacts will be short-term,” Tony Clark, West Virginia Division of Highways District 6 engineer, said. “We may have a lane closure pop up here or there for concrete coating work or something else up on top. That would only be a day or part of a day, not long term.”
The project replaced or rehabilitated entrance and exit ramps and 26 bridges on I-70 from the Ohio River to Elm Grove Exit 5.
Work on the project began in 2019. Westbound lanes from Exit 1B, the U.S. 250/W.Va. Rt. 2-16th Street exit to Exit 2A, the Oglebay Park exit, were closed in 2020, while eastbound lanes in the same area were closed in 2021. The primary detour was I-470.
The I-70 corridor was built in the 1950s. In 2017, the department studied the I-70 corridor to understand the current bridge conditions and necessary repairs from the Ohio State Line to the Pennsylvania State Line.
When all work is completed, a public ribbon-cutting ceremony will be held.