Bridge named for Blennerhassett Island
4/2/2008
PARKERSBURG —Blennerhassett Island officials were pleased to learn Monday the Corridor D bridge spanning the Ohio River will be named The Blennerhassett Island Bridge.
Senate Concurrent Resolution 19, sponsored by local Sens. Frank Deem, R-Wood, and Donna Boley, R-Pleasants, requested the West Virginia Division of Highways name the bridge after the historic site. The resolution notes “Blennerhassett Island has played an important role in Ohio Valley history for over 200 years.”
Delegate John Ellem, R-Wood, confirmed the measure also passed the House of Delegates, and legislators said they foresee no problems with the new name proceeding.
The board of directors of the Blennerhassett Historical Foundation earlier voted unanimously that naming the bridge after the island would pay “deserving homage to Blennerhassett Island and acquaint travelers with the site’s historical importance.”
Dianne Anderson, with the Blennerhassett Foundation, learned of the action Monday during the Wood County Commission meeting. She’s been instrumental in the movement to have the bridge named after the island.
“We’ve been working on this for about a year. We wrote to our legislators and asked them to consider this, but there were other suggestions submitted after that. We have just been waiting to hear. It’s wonderful news. It is the best advertising we could get, people will wonder what the island is, and maybe will take the time to visit,” Anderson said.
“Frank and I introduced the resolution into the senate. It goes to the chairman of the Transportation Committee then to the House of Delegates. The Blennerhassett Island officials had contacted us last year, then we received a letter from the Wood County Commission and chamber of commerce about another name,” Boley said. “I think this is a good name for it,” she said of the final selection.
Back in February, after being contacted by local chamber of commerce officials, the county commissioners agreed to write a letter of support to name the bridge after community business leader/philanthropist Bernard P. McDonough.
After learning local legislators had been advocating since April 2007 to have the bridge named after Blennerhassett Island, the commissioners took another look at the chamber’s recommendation. The county officials said they had been unaware of the other efforts. Commissioners then told local legislators they would support either choice.
“I think the two groups just weren’t aware of the efforts of the other,” Boley said.
The bridge spans the Ohio River from West Virginia to Ohio over Blennerhassett Island.
West Virginia Department of Transportation officials announced earlier the bridge is scheduled for opening by late April or early May. The 4,009-foot bridge is the last major component of the Corridor D project left to be completed. The Corridor D project is a multi-lane highway extending from the Ohio state line at Parkersburg to I-79 at Clarksburg. It was designated as part of the Appalachian Development Highway System by the Appalachian Regional Development Act of 1965 and later designated as part of the National Highway System.
It will rank among the longest-span structures of its type in the world.
Posted with permission from The Parkersburg News & Sentinel
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