WELCOME — The new Wellsburg-Brilliant bridge sits can be seen from Brilliant. -- Christopher Dacanay

BRILLIANT — As the opening ceremony for the Wellsburg-Brilliant Bridge brought together citizens and officials from both sides of the river on Wednesday, Ohio residents speculated about the new span’s pros and cons for the area.

The bridge, which opened officially for traffic on Thursday, connects West Virginia state Route 2, south of Wellsburg and Ohio state Route 7. On the Ohio side, the bridge spills into and out from Brilliant.

Ben Batenburg said he was not a trustee when the board was involved in planning for the bridge around 2007, but he is optimistic about the economic benefits the bridge will bring to Ohio, the township and Brilliant. Batenburg, who is chairman of the board, said the bridge will be a particularly positive asset for employees at Buckeye Power’s Cardinal Power Plant to the south of Brilliant.

A former Jefferson County commissioner, Batenburg said the plant is the township’s largest employer, with about 300 workers, according to the Cardinal. website. Employees from West Virginia will no longer have to drive to bridges in Steubenville, Wheeling or Weirton to cross the Ohio River, a change Batenburg said “cuts their driving time in half” and is like “getting a pay raise” when one considers the price of gasoline.

“It’s a good thing for both sides,” said Batenburg.

Township trustee Rodney Roe said the bridge is going to “benefit the whole valley.” Specific groups he mentioned include Cardinal employees, shoppers going to Wellsburg and the businesses themselves, commuting college and university students and the people of Brilliant, as the bridge is expected to lead to possible development in the area.

Additionally, Roe said, a celebration should be held every year on Sept. 20 to commemorate the bridge.

Patrolman Shawn Starosciak of the Wells Township Police Department, who helped direct traffic during Wednesday’s ribbon-cutting festivities with Patrolman Cole Still, said the bridge has pros and cons. On one hand, the bridge heavily reduces inter-state drive times, but it also could serve as a “gateway for drugs.”

“It’s a quicker way to get to your destination, no matter what you’re doing,” Starosciak said, adding that drug and human traffickers tend to use major highways for their operations.

Starosciak said the 13-employee department will be busy during the bridge’s first month, with people unfamiliar with the new traffic lights making accidents and minor moving violations more likely.

Although the bridge will open Brilliant up to new business opportunities, Starosciak said, “people will have to learn to adapt” to the new traffic patterns.

Steubenville Mayor Jerry Barilla said the bridge is a “safety valve” in case something was to happen to the Market Street Bridge, which opened in 1905, and the Veterans Memorial Bridge, which opened in 1990.

“This bridge represents a shaking of hands between two states of cooperation and commerce,” said Barilla, who was elected mayor in 2017.

Barilla said the Wellsburg-Brilliant Bridge, with its bicycle lane expected to be completed later this year, is a way to marry Steubenville’s existing bicycle trails with the Brooke County Pioneer Trail, which runs from Wellsburg to Short Creek, where it continues as the Wheeling Heritage Trail. However, Barilla said he does not want to give up on the Market Street Bridge, which he said should remain open for bicyclists and pedestrians.

In addition, Barilla said the bridge will aid Steubenville’s tourism through the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail. With Steubenville being added to the 4,900-mile trail’s auto route in 2019, Barilla said, tourism will increase between the city and Wellsburg, another point on the trail because of its native Patrick Gass, who served on the expedition.

Jason Sanders, a Steubenville resident, said the bridge is better for individuals with cars than for bicyclists because of allegedly confusing anti-bicycle police enforcement along the highways in Ohio and West Virginia.

“What’s the sense of having a bike lane if you can’t ride on Route 2 or Route 7?” Sanders asked.

Jim Mavromatis, Steubenville city manager, said the bridge will greatly help Wellsburg and Brilliant expand by attracting more traffic to the areas because “people like to take the shortest route.”

Chris Kamerer and RoseAnn McHugh, members of the Brilliant Boat Club, walked across the bridge during Wednesday’s events, passing by the rows of classic cars parked for the bridge’s cruise-in. Kamerer, who said she lives between Smithfield and New Alexandria, said she can see herself using the bridge to reach shopping centers and restaurants in West Virginia.

McHugh, who is from Brilliant, agreed while adding that the bridge is “beautiful.”

Kamerer suggested that the bridge be named the “Buccaneers Bridge,” a combination of the Ohio State Buckeyes and West Virginia Mountaineers.

Both women recalled sitting beneath the bridge’s Ohio side approach ramp on April 27, 2021, as the span was transported by barges to its current location.

Melissa Cooke, a third-grade teacher at Brilliant’s Buckeye North Elementary School, brought her 33 students down Third Street to see the bridge’s opening. Overall, Cooke said, pupils from the school’s second through sixth grades attended, with about 35 students per class. Cooke recalled when the school brought its students to see the bridge being transported by barges in 2021.

A Mingo Junction resident, Cooke said it is “about time” there was a new bridge. Now she will not have to travel to Steubenville in order to go to West Virginia.

Mingo resident Bobby Westfall attended the opening with his family. Westfall, owner of the Bay Six Project nonprofit, said the bridge will aid the nonprofit’s projects by opening events up to individuals across the river, and it will make it easier for his family to reach their church in Wellsburg.

Steubenville Shrine Club members Vincent Osso, Dan Truax and Jay Hutter spoke positively of the bridge as they lounged near the display of the club’s various vehicles. Hutter, a former truck driver, said the new bridge will make a “world of difference” for drivers if one of the other area bridges goes out. Also, he said the bridge will make it easier for other Ohio Valley shrine clubs to attend each other’s events.