CHARLESTON, WV (Hinton News) – Gov. Jim Justice announced on August 9, 2022, that he has approved the bid award for Wheeling’s long-awaited streetscape project to beautify downtown.
The contract for the project has been awarded to Triton Construction Inc., with a low bid of $31,900,000. The project will add ADA-compliant curb cuts, widened sidewalks, and decorative brickwork along Main Street and Market Street, between 10th Street and 16th Street downtown. The project will also add decorative traffic signals, plants, and trees.
The City of Wheeling is contributing $1.9 million for construction work on the project and $100,000 toward design and engineering. Additionally, the West Virginia Department of Transportation (WVDOT) has also been awarded a $16.25 million federal RAISE grant for the project.
Gov. Justice expressed his support for the project in June 2020, meeting with WVDOT officials, State Senator Ryan Weld, and Wheeling Mayor Glenn F. Elliot Jr.
“I could not be more excited to get the ball rolling on this project, which is tremendously important to the City of Wheeling and the entire Northern Panhandle,” Gov. Justice said. “Not only are we going to be changing the look and feel of downtown Wheeling for the better, the project will incentivize more people to come and explore this amazing area, stimulating the local economy in the process, opening up the door to more growth. It’s a win for all West Virginians and I thank everyone who has been involved in getting us to this point.
“This project has been a long time coming,” Gov. Justice added. “Along the way, the city changed the scope of the project, which pushed back our start date a little bit. But, at the end of the day, I promised that we were going to get this done, and now we’re getting it done.”
The Wheeling Streetscape project was one of six construction projects included in a special bid letting, held by the WVDOT on Tuesday, July 26, 2022. The WVDOT wanted to expedite approval of the contract to begin work as quickly as possible.
“The streets and sidewalks of downtown Wheeling have needed this work for several years,” said District 6 Engineer Tony Clark, P.E. “This work will make great strides to update and beautify downtown Wheeling and present an attractive face to the city for residents and visitors.”
Construction is expected to start later this fall and be completed in 2024.
