BELMONT COUNTY, Ohio – Where is the sense of urgency? That’s the question Don Britton and other members of the Blaine Bridge Committee are asking the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) and elected officials.
Britton is a Bridgeport resident, retired Ohio State Highway Patrol Trooper and member of the Blaine Bridge Committee, a group formed by fellow Bridgeport resident and business owner Nina Piccin Lenz, to protest the ongoing closure of the Blaine Hill Bridge, a vital transportation artery along U.S. Route 40 in Belmont County.
ODOT closed the bridge to one lane of traffic in July 2024 then shuttered it completely in August 2024 due to what they called rapid deterioration of the structure. ODOT said it had previous plans to rehabilitate the bridge in 2030. ODOT now expects the work to be completed by 2027, but that’s not soon enough for the residents and businesses who rely upon it.
The Blaine Bridge Committee asked regional and state ODOT officials for a public hearing about the closure, but ODOT denied their requests, Britton said. ODOT also told the committee that residents along U.S. 40 have access to public transportation but Britton says ODOT does not understand that the elderly might not be able to access this to haul groceries and attend medical appointments.
you can’t have elderly people waiting on a bus to get to a grocery store and then carry the groceries on the bus. And elderly people were afraid to drive on the interstate, a lot of them.
Don Britton, member, Blaine Bridge Committee/retired Ohio State Patrol Trooper
Blaine Bridge Committee members say there are many vital issues officials are missing by keeping the bridge closed so long. Britton is also a retired Ohio State Highway Trooper with a unique perspective on how the bridge closure affects law enforcement and public safety. Britton pointed to increased police and first responder response times and traffic stopped due to accidents on I-70, which runs parallel to U.S. 40. Traffic diverted from I-70 onto U.S. due to an emergency could prove a disaster, Britton says.
It’s one of the most heavily traveled interstates in the country. It’s a hub and if any critical incident, whether it be a crash, whether it be a hazmat spill, which is rare, but but Interestate 70, when I was still working, was I think second in the.
Don Britton, member, Blaine Bridge Committee/retired Ohio State Patrol Trooper
And hazmat traveling across it. – Okay. I remember one instant we had it shut down for several hours from a hazmat spill. But it wouldn’t take anything but a crash or a tractor trailer to Jackknife, and you have interstate 70 shut downand you have a logistical nightmare really.
With the frequency of accidents on I-70 and I-470 in West Virginia, traffic troubles could mushroom in the event of a major incident, Britton says.
The bridge closure affects residents in Blaine, Wolfhurst, Brookside, Bridgeport, Barton and St. Clairsville, but Britton says the entire Ohio Valley is affected since U.S. 40 where the bridge runs is a major transportation artery that people rely on every day, especially if I-70 is down.
Britton also says local businesses including the Vino di Piccin Winery, hair salons and gas stations are seeing a 40 to 50 percent decline in sales. The Bridgeport School District is rerouting buses and incurring higher fuel costs as well.
Many people are also unable to travel west to St. Clairsville and beyond since they do not like to drive on the interstate, Britton said.
Britton said his group is organizing a meeting in January with Ohio State Senator Brian M. Chavez (R) that the Belmont County Commissioners said they would attend. The Blaine Bridge Committee also reached out to Ohio Stater Representative Ron Ferguson (R) and may be contacting U.S. Senator Bernie Moreno (R) once he is sworn into office next month.
Several committee members were present at last week’s Belmont County Commissioners’ meeting and questioned if this bridge project would be so far delayed if it was located in a metro area like Columbus or Cleveland.
Blaine Bridge Committee members express concerns to Belmont County Commissioners
Commissioner Jerry Echemann said he and Commissioner J.P. Dutton met with ODOT last week and discussed the bridge issue. Echemann says the commissioners understand the gravity of the situation. Echemann says ODOT expects to have its environmental study completed by March 2025 and that work can start in summer 2026 with the bridge being reopened in 2027.
Echemann said ODOT informed the commissioners that this is not a rehabilitation project. It is a rebuild of the entire bridge. Just the bridge base will stay in place.
The Blaine Bridge Committee is asking residents to sign their petition, which Piccin-Lenz’s sister wrote. This is a grassroots effort with members gathering signatures after church services and at multiple locations in the Bridgeport area. They already have more than 1,000 signatures.
Britton provided the list of locations below where you, too, can sign the petition to reopen the Blaine Hill Bridge:
- Barton Trap
- Lansing Sportsmans’ Club
- Rt. 40 Antiques-Lansing
- Foresters Club
- Jacci’s Creations
- Hillside Motel-Lansing
- Exxon (Naji Abbound)
- Son’s of Italy-Bellaire
- Double J Laundromat
- Advanced Auto-Bridgeport
- Sunoco Food Mart-52645 National Road
- Joe’s Tire- St. Clairsville
- Vino di Picci -Lansing
- Sha Na Na’s Pizza-Brookside
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