Craig Howell GETTING A NEW LOOK – The West Virginia Division of Highways will begin a project to replace the Weirton Steel Overhead Bridge next week, closing the bridge’s two northbound lanes starting Monday. Traffic will be maintained in the southbound lanes for the first phase of the project.

WEIRTON — While much of the attention on traffic concerns has focused on U.S. 22 and the Veterans Memorial Bridge, another project in downtown Weirton is set to create additional long-term disruptions.

The West Virginia Division of Highways will begin a project next week to replace the Weirton Steel Overhead Bridge, which carries state Route 2 through part of the city’s north end just below the intersection of County Road and Pennsylvania Avenue.

Weirton Police Chief Charlie Kush said the city had been notified work would begin Monday.

“They’re going to put up the jersey barriers next week,” he said during Wednesday’s meeting of the city Traffic Commission.

Information from the WVDOH indicates plans call for the two northbound lanes of Route 2 at the bridge to be closed beginning at 7 a.m. Monday, with the closure lasting through April 2027. Traffic in both directions will be maintained on the southbound lanes.

Kokosing Construction Co. was awarded the project for $13,460,338.69 last summer, winning out over bids from Triton Construction and Merlo Inc.

According to WVDOH documentation, the Weirton Steel Overpass Bridge was built in 1966 and rehabilitated in 1998. It consists of 20 simple steel wide-flange beam spans with an overall length of 1,428 feet. The deck width is 60 feet 4 inches. The substructure consists of concrete abutments and piers. The bridge is structurally deficient.

The project will include construction of a new roadway supported by retaining walls beginning at the north abutment of the South Main Street Bridge, which also will receive some rehabilitation, “transitioning to a roadway at grade through the 4-way intersection formed by WV 2 and WV 105.”

City Manager Mike Adams, emphasizing the project is being handled by the state, said the new grading will provide necessary space for trains operating on the Norfolk Southern line in the area as well as other industrial traffic.

The new industrial access road being developed through property owned by the Frontier Group of Companies will cross under part of the existing South Main Street Bridge.

Plans also call for the addition of a southbound right-turn lane into the Frontier Group development.

“It’s a two-year project,” Mayor Dean Harris said last week, noting that once the northbound lanes are completed, work will shift to the southbound lanes, with traffic maintained on the rebuilt northbound side.

The original timeline indicated a final completion date of October 2028.

The project was announced by the DOH in April 2025, with bids awarded in June 2025. Original estimates placed the project at $18 million.