{"id":3586,"date":"2016-02-27T02:41:06","date_gmt":"2016-02-27T02:41:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/?p=3586"},"modified":"2016-02-27T02:41:06","modified_gmt":"2016-02-27T02:41:06","slug":"right-of-way","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/right-of-way","title":{"rendered":"Right of Way"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\"Cover<\/a>\n

An Archiving Wheeling partnership with InWheeling Magazine<\/a>.\u00a0The Spring 2016 edition, featuring this article, is on sale now.\u00a0Additional social media comments posted after the magazine deadline have been added to this post.\u00a0Visit InWheeling Magazine on\u00a0Facebook<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

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The Impact of Highway Construction on Wheeling\u2019s Neighborhoods<\/h2>\n
\"Bustling<\/a>
Bustling Wharf in Wheeling, 1890. Illustration from Harper\u2019s Weekly, June 21, 1890. From the OCPL Archives.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

From the churn of paddlewheels on the Ohio, to the rattle of Conestoga wagons along the Old National Pike, to the mournful cry of steam locomotives pulling into station, Wheeling\u2019s storied neighborhoods have long been filled with the beautiful noise and bustle of transportation. And both the boundaries and character of each of those neighborhoods have been defined, in large part, by the city\u2019s role as a transportation hub.<\/p>\n

But perhaps no other mode of transportation has had a greater impact on Wheeling\u2019s neighborhoods than the automobile and the transportation infrastructure built to accommodate it: the modern interstate highway system and the bridges, overpasses, ramps, and tunnels that make it work. For better or worse, the construction of the Fort Henry Bridge, Wheeling Tunnel, I-70, I-470, and the changes to Route 2, dramatically altered Wheeling at all levels. And perhaps the most profound impact came at the level of neighborhood.<\/p>\n

\"Construction<\/a>
Construction of I-70 looking east from Wheeling Hill. Photo from the personal collection of Jim Thornton.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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The Thoroughfare Plan<\/h2>\n
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Early highway planning, the so-called \u201cThoroughfare Plan\u201d (see, \u201cA Plan for Action, City of Wheeling,\u201d July, 1964), considered transportation in and around Wheeling to be a \u201ccirculation system\u201d and valued \u201cefficient vehicular movement\u201d and minimized losses of time as the standards. While recognizing that \u201cconstruction of a new major artery will have a profound influence on a community,\u201d and that thoroughfare planning \u201cmust be carefully balanced against other community objectives,\u201d planners emphasized that, \u201cwith the reduction in railroad traffic into the area, the primary means of transportation now relies on trucking.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"From<\/a>
From \u201cA Plan of Action For the City of Wheeling-Ohio County,\u201d 1964. Harry Hamm Collection, OCPL Archives.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

So trucking was seen as essential to economic growth and to Wheeling maintaining its position as a marketing center for the Upper Ohio Valley. Accommodating such trucking by minimizing time and maximizing speed for trucks, thus became one of the primary early goals of highway planning.<\/p>\n

In addition, Wheeling had to be \u201cmade more accessible.\u201d \u201cRegardless of how attractive the shopping facilities are in downtown Wheeling,\u201d said the planners, \u201cif it cannot be easily reached, its customers will soon change their shopping habits.\u201d Planners stressed the need for a unified front of the public, merchants, industrialists, civic organizations, and city and county government, to \u201cstress the need for I-70 and I-470 and the Route 2 Freeway.\u201d They believed that traffic movements would be greatly facilitated. \u201cTrips to Pittsburgh from Wheeling will undoubtedly increase in number with the completion of I-70. Inter-city trips will also increase as the ability to move quickly is made possible by the new interstate routes.\u201d Later planning for I-470 had as its goal to relieve the through-traffic on Interstate 70 in the Wheeling area and on the Fort Henry Bridge.<\/p>\n