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Development of new bridge was a journey in itself

Photos by Scott McCloskey Massive section of the Wellsburg Bridge is moved down river

WELLSBURG — Delivery of the 830-foot main span of the new Ohio River bridge to its piers between WV 2 and Ohio 7 occurred within 12 hours. Yet the journey to the project’s development involved many individuals who pushed and worked to make it a reality.

While there’s still more work to be done, with the span slated for completion in fall 2022, past and present local officials have been reflecting on the legwork that led up to this point.

“These are once-in-a-lifetime things,” said Mike Paprocki, executive director of the Brooke-Hancock-Jefferson Metropolitan Planning Commission, who noted his children have grown since the bridge was made a top transportation goal by the regional planning commission.

Paprocki was a transportation study director under then executive director John Brown at the time.

“It’s the culmination of a lot of hard work,” said former Brooke County commissioner Norm Schwertfeger. He recalled Brown, soon after his hiring by BHJ in 1998, coming to the county commission to ask their priorities.

Schwertfeger said he and others suggested a bridge between the southern ends of Brooke and Jefferson counties, an idea that had been talked about for decades; and he was recruited to chair BHJ’s first committee to pursue it.

Paprocki said the project became timelier as the Market Street Bridge, built in 1905, the Fort Steuben Bridge, constructed in 1928, and even the Veterans Memorial Bridge, completed in 1991, at the time each underwent major repairs.

While the latter span was expected to stand for many more years, the possibility of the next closest river crossings north or south being 25 miles away became very real, Paprocki said.

Paprocki noted the concerns later proved valid as the Fort Steuben Bridge was demolished in 2012, though the Market Street Bridge gained a new lease on life through major renovations in 2011.

Schwertfeger said response to the idea at the northern end of Brooke County was cool initially.

“It didn’t happen at a time when everybody was jumping up and down about a bridge,” he said.

Schwertfeger said it may have been because the proposed new span was seen by some as a potential replacement for the Market Street Bridge.

But Paprocki said officials with the West Virginia and Ohio departments of transportation saw the benefits of another Ohio River bridge and their joint support helped to propel the project.

He noted both departments funded two studies commissioned by BHJ to determine the need for the bridge and identify the best locations for it years before they agreed to split the $131 million cost for the span’s construction 65-35.

Paprocki recalled being accompanied by four representatives of the West Virginia Department of Transportation when he pitched the project to Ohio’s Transportation Review and Advisory Council in Columbus

He said each presentation was given a time limit, with a simulated traffic signal serving as the timer.

“When it turned yellow, you had two minutes left. But when I was talking and it turned red, they gave me another 20 minutes to talk about it, Paprocki said.

He said Jerry Wray, state director of ODOT; and Lloyd MacAdam, deputy district director of ODOT; were strong supporters.

Paprocki said afterwards, he told the advisory committee for the bridge study, “Ladies and gentlemen, there’s no guarantee, but this is promising.”

He said the project gained further momentum when U.S. Sens. Robert C. Byrd and Jay Rockefeller, both D-W.Va., allocated $18 million for its planning and initial construction.

Schwertfeger recalled accompanying Brown and others on visits to the senators and other representatives in Congress to seek support for various projects.

“That (the bridge) was always part of our conversations,” he said, adding, “It was because of the influence we had in Congress at the time that we were able to pull it off.”

“I just take a lot of pride in having played a part in it,” said Schwertfeger.

Paprocki said, “I guess in reflection, it is exciting. How many people can say, you advocated for something like that and it came to fruition? Yeah, it’s exciting.”

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