BRIDGE UPDATE — W.Va. State Sen. Ryan Weld presented an update on the status of the Market Street Bridge during Tuesday's meeting of Steubenville City Council. -- Ross Gallabrese

STEUBENVILLE — The future of the Market Street Bridge has not been decided, a West Virginia legislator told members of City Council Tuesday night.

“The latest information I have received from the Division of Highways is that they are not going to be doing anything with it until the new bridge is completed,” W.Va. state Sen. Ryan Weld said. “You can imagine — they have all of their eggs in one basket right now, trying to get that completed.”

Weld, a Republican who lives in Wellsburg, crossed the Ohio River to give members of council an update on a couple of key components of the region’s infrastructure. He said he anticipates that construction on the new bridge that will connect West Virginia Route 2 south of Wellsburg with Ohio Route 7 in Brilliant will be completed sometime in the next couple of months.

Once that bridge is opened, West Virginia will begin to evaluate the Market Street Bridge, he said.

“The plan is to do a full review of the Market Street Bridge — what the bridge needs, what work it needs and what the cost would be to perform all of those repairs,” said Weld, who added that he grew up in the Sixth Ward of Steubenville.

“It is my hope that they will continue to operate the bridge. I have made it clear that I would like to see the bridge continue to be operated by the state of West Virginia. It is a vital link between West Virginia and downtown Steubenville. It adds a lot to both states.”

While West Virginia conducted an extensive renovation of the 117-year-old Market Street Bridge between 2009 and 2010, the structure still faces challenges. Weight restrictions limit traffic to passenger cars.

Work on the as-yet-unnamed Wellsburg-Brilliant bridge began four years ago. At the time, contractors and West Virginia officials anticipated that the $131 million bridge would have been finished and open last fall. Numerous delays have pushed that date back.

Once that project is complete, West Virginia, which owns the Market Street Bridge, will be able to take a good, long look at the structure.

“As of right now, there is no plan to cease operations or to set a number of years until it will no longer be maintained. They will do a full and thorough review and at that time determine what the next steps are,” Weld said.

Discussion among local officials has included the possibility of repurposing the bridge and using it for foot traffic.

Sixth Ward Councilman Mike Hernon asked Weld what members of council could do to make sure their thoughts are heard. Weld explained that one of the best routes would be to go through the Brooke-Hancock-Jefferson Metropolitan Planning Commission.

“They can be a central repository, working with Weirton and Follansbee and making sure that everyone is on the same page,” he said. “The last thing we would want to see would be Steubenville going for X, Weirton going for Y and Follansbee going for Z.”

Mayor Jerry Barilla said it would be important to find a way to keep the river crossing open as an alternative if the Veterans Memorial Bridge would need to be closed.

Weld said that even though he represents West Virginians, the Market Street Bridge is important to every resident of the Tri-State Area.

“I think of us as a region — this is the Steubenville-Weirton metropolitan region,” he said. “I think you need to look at it regionally — Steubenville’s success is Weirton’s success is Follansbee’s success.”

In other business, members of council:

— Approved amended ordinances giving City Manager Jim Mavromatis authority to execute the Crabbe Boulevard and Johnson Road improvement projects;

— Heard the third reading of an ordinance supporting a BHJ-conducted safety study of Sunset Boulevard;

— Passed an ordinance authorizing Finance Director Dave Lewis to establish accounts for funds associated with the Choice Neighborhood Planning Grant;

— Heard the second reading of an ordinance appropriating $1.5 million from the General Fund to the Parks and Recreation Department Fund;

— Heard the first reading of an ordinance directing Mavromatis to sign a conveyance agreement with the Jefferson County Port Authority to conduct the sale of two parcels of real estate to Schenerlein and Sligar for economic development;

— Sunshined requests from Fourth Ward Councilman Royal Mayo recognizing April as National Minority Health Month and from Third Ward Councilwoman Heather Hoover recognizing April as National Child Abuse Prevention Month; and

— Heard details from Mavromatis about the city’s spring clean-up schedule, which includes: April 14 — all streets on Labelle View; April 21 — all streets on Pleasant Heights; April 28 — the South End (all streets from Market Street to the south city limits, from Spring Avenue to state Route 7 and including Lincoln Heights) and the North End (all streets from Alikanna to Market Street from 11th Street to state Route 7); May 5 — all streets on the north side of Sunset Boulevard from Brady Avenue to the west city limit (including Brady Avenue); and May 12, all streets in the south side of Sunset Boulevard from McCauslen Manor to the west city limits.

The collection is open only to residents who have active and current utility accounts and is for household items only. All items must be placed where regular trash collection occurs each week no sooner than the night before the scheduled collection.

Prohibited items include tires of any kind; electronic waste (including computers and televisions); any item containing freon gas; hazardous wastes and petrochemcials; and construction materials.