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Updated: 8:55 PM Mar 11, 2010
Bracing for Backups as Bridge Prepares to Close
Emergency officials are bracing for traffic backups as a major bridge is getting ready to close.
Posted: 11:31 PM Mar 10, 2010Reporter: Kallie Cart Email Address: kallie.cart@wsaz.com |
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2 Comments 
PUTNAM COUNTY, W.Va. (WSAZ) -- Emergency officials are bracing for traffic backups as a major bridge is getting ready to close.
The Route 34 bridge connecting Winfield and Red House in Putnam County is slated to close April 5 for repairs. The bridge will remain closed through late August.
The closure will force traffic onto Route 62, an already busy stretch of highway.
On Wednesday, emergency officials were reminded of how fast traffic can back up if there is an accident. Two cars collided on Route 62 near the base of Red House Hill, that accident caused a second collision. Traffic quickly came to a stand still, but once the bridge closes emergency officials say the problems will only become worse.
"Traffic backed up pretty hard pretty fast," Cecil Kimble, the county's EMS director says. "We're going to be flowing that much more traffic up and down the river, it's not going to take long if we have an accident the traffic will get real bad."
The county plans to station an additional ambulance on Route 62 in Eleanor once the bridge closes. They will also have even more resources the first few days of the closure while people get used to the changes.
In order to cross the river, drivers will have to stay on Route 62 and cross the Buffalo Bridge, which is about eight miles away, or go through Poca, an area that's already congested during rush hour.
The bridge closure is for some much needed repairs. County officials say the bridge deck will be replaced, a new sidewalk will be added and the bridge will be painted.
Right now the bridge is closed from 9p.m. to 6a.m.
Local fire stations are also trying to adapt to the changes. Right now, the Winfield Volunteer Fire Department will cross the bridge to assist Eleanor, and vice versa. Once the bridge closes, that will no longer be an option. Kimble says stations on the same sides of the river will now respond for mutual aid calls.
Latest Comments
If they can work on the bridge at night now...why can't the work continue at night for the next four months? This is going to be a nightmare on all fronts!
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