I-70 runs east-west through here, US 250 is the freeway going south, and US 40 loops around to the north as a surface road. Both US routes are multiplexed with I-70 to cross almost into Ohio (to the west).
I-70 takes a fairly direct, but extremely congested and substandard course through the Wheeling, WV area. The bluffs of the Ohio River valley make for a LOT of interesting exploring, but are a pain to those who would build cities, industries, railroads, highways and whatever else. The major 'mall' shopping center for the area is about 7 miles (12 km) west of the Ohio River, because that was the closest place to the area where the developer could find a large enough piece of flat land that was easily accessable.
After crossing a fairly narrow set of bridges across the Ohio River, the highway drops into a tunnel and emerges at a *very* tight interchange with a freeway spur (US 250) that heads to the south end of the city. The through route of I-70 is only one lane wide through this interchange. BTW, that is a *left* exit to US 250 from I-70 going eastbound and a *left* entrance from US 250 to I-70 going westbound (the roadway in the 'middle' is a two-way access between US 250 (S) and surface streets to the north). The ramps at either end of the 'Ft. Henry Bridge' (just west of the tunnel) are equally substandard. There is a railroad that snakes its way along the west side of the US 250 freeway and south of I-70 to the east (there is 'street running' for two blocks on 17th St in Wheeling on this line), and an abandoned railroad grade parallels US 250 across the 'Wheeling Run', goes under I-70, through two tunnels under the US 40 'loop' and across the Ohio River into Martin's Ferry, OH. Also, try to find a fairly easy way to get from WB I-70 to downtown Wheeling, the first SB exit on US 250 is well south of most of the downtown area.
When these deficiencies had become painfully acute, it was determined that the most cost effective way to correct the situation was to develop a totally new route around it, and a more up to date I-470 was built. Next week, we will look into the equally interesting quirks of the I-470 crossing of the Ohio River.
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This page © Michael G. Koerner |
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