FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, December 15, 2023
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MEDIA ADVISORY: Gov. Justice to celebrate opening of the Grant Street Bridge Monday at 1 p.m.
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WHO: Gov. Jim Justice, Secretary of the West Virginia Department of Transportation Jimmy Wriston, P.E., and other local officials.
WHAT: Gov. Justice will host an event to celebrate the opening of the Grant Street Bridge in Bluefield.
The bridge, built in 1941 to provide access from downtown Bluefield and Princeton Avenue to the town’s North End and East Side, has been closed since June 2019, leaving motorists with a lengthy detour to get in and out of those parts of town.
In October 2020, Gov. Jim Justice announced $10.5 million in federal, state, and local funding to replace the decaying structure. Highways officials helped hammer out an agreement between Norfolk Southern Corporation and the city of Bluefield, who jointly owned the old bridge.
Under the agreement, Norfolk Southern agreed to turn over ownership of the bridge to the city of Bluefield and agreed to give city officials $500,000 as local match funding for construction. The West Virginia Division of Highways agreed to manage the project, with $8 million in funding from the Federal Highway Administration and $2 million in funding from state sources.
In the spring of 2021, Brayman Construction Corporation was awarded a contract for $8,097,117.21 to tear down the old bridge and replace it with a brand-new structure.
Replacement of the bridge will provide easy access to all parts of town and to US 19.
The new bridge, built on the same footprint as the existing span, is 330 feet long.
WHEN: Monday, December 18, 2023, at 1:00 p.m.
WHERE: Event will be held on the Grant Street Bridge.
A DOH signboard will be placed on US Route 19 at the site entrance.
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This event will be live streamed. You can view the live stream by navigating to the Governor's Facebook, Twitter, or YouTube pages. You can also view a live stream by visiting the Governor's Office website and scrolling down to the "News and Media" section of the home page.
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