The good news is that a long-talked about and wanted paving project in the City of Bridgeport has already begun. The bad news is that, according to officials with the West Virginia Division of Highways, weather has stopped it from being completed.

 

And Bridgeport City officials have additional news that’s neither good nor bad.

 

“We’re reminding the community that this is not a City of Bridgeport project, but a state Division of Highways project,” said Bridgeport City Engineer Beth Fox of the paving project by Hinkle and Deegan Lakes.“We’ve received a number of calls from individuals that are concerned with the project that started and has stalled off.”

 

Most of concerns, she said, are individuals dismayed about the amount of dust and tar that have gotten on their vehicles. She also said there is concern with no center line in place and dust on the road that is being prepped for paving.

 

“We understand the concerns and have been directing them to the DOH and making sure the DOH knows the concerns as well,” said Fox.

 

For those with concerns they feel addressed, they can contact the West Virginia Division of Highways District 4 office in Bridgeport. The number there is 304-842-1500.

 

Bear Contracting out of Bridgeport won the job with a low bid of $282,990.75. According to Steve Ruppert, the DOH District 4 Officer Manager for Resurfacing, weather has created the issue for Bear to finish the work as they had hoped.

 

“They have the surface treatment down and primarily finished, but need to do a few more things before paving can begin,” said Ruppert. “The contractor is also doing the same type of work on another project, which isn’t unusual, and planned on having the paving done already before the rain threw things off schedule. Rain today didn’t help either.”

 

So when things should be finished?

 

“The plan, as of now, is to finish the prep work by Friday and see the paving start Saturday. The paving should take a day up to a day and a half to complete,” said Ruppert. “If weather continues to be an issue you could see the paving begin next week, but once it starts it won’t take too long.”

 

Ruppert is advising those in the area that once paving begins there will likely be some minor traffic delays. He said it’s possible that both flaggers and a pilot truck will be used to make traffic flow as best as possible.

 

The city isn’t the only one receiving calls. Ruppert said his office has received several and most of them focus on one thing.

 

“The majority of the calls we’ve received is that the project is a chip and tar project and that’s not accurate. It looks like now, but that’s part of the surface treatment,” said Ruppert. “We want to correct that misinformation that’s out there.”

 

Fox said once the work is done it’s going to look nice. And it’s going to address a section of roadway that has needed attention.

 

“It’s not an ideal situation, but we’re asking people to be patient. We know it can be difficult, but when this is complete it’s going to be something very nice,” said Fox.

 

The project runs from the roadways intersection with State Route 58 near the old Burnside Car Wash all the way to the entrance of Briarwood.