HURRICANE, W.Va. — Local dignitaries were on hand Friday to cut the ribbon on a new bridge at the entrance to Hurricane City Park. The new two-lane span over one of the creeks feeding into Hurricane Reservoir has been desperately needed for some time.
“The two lane bridge was severely needed,” said Hurricane Mayor Scott Edwards. “We’ve been struggling for traffic for many years and the purpose of the two-lane bridge was to get all of the traffic backups off Teays Valley Road and into the park.”
During peak usage, traffic would back up for a long way along the busy highway as motorists alternated coming in and out of the park. The new bridge will alleviate the wait time for vehicles, but Edwards had another concern.
“Now we’re working with the state and some other donors for a pedestrian walkway,’ he said. “That’s a big concern of mine.”
Edwards said they’ve received rough estimates on the cost of adding a walkway in the neighborhood of $35,000 to $50,000. He’s hoping the state will be able to accommodate some of the cost for that phase of the project as well.
“We came in under project cost of the whole bridge by about $50,000,” said the mayor. “We’re talking with the DOH and hoping they’ll let us use that money toward the pedestrian walkway.”