WHEELING — Swank Construction crews officially closed the Exit 1A off-ramp on Interstate 70 from the Fort Henry Bridge to Main Street in downtown Wheeling early Monday as part of the ongoing I-70 Bridges Project in Ohio County.

Swank will have up to 120 days to complete the rehabilitation work on the ramp, according to West Virginia Division of Highways District 6 Engineer Tony Clark.

Drivers used to taking Exit 1A off Interstate 70 East to the downtown area will instead need to continue on through the Wheeling Tunnel and take Exit 1B to 16th Street as part of the official detour for that closure.

Just last week Swank reopened the Fulton Bridge section of I-70 East, which restored more direct access from the area of downtown Wheeling to locations further east, including WVU Medicine Wheeling Hospital. I-70 has been closed in the area of the Fulton Bridge since early 2021 as the bridge was completely demolished and rebuilt as part of the I-70 Bridges Project.

Both bridge projects are part of a massive $215 million WVDOT project to replace or rehabilitate 26 bridges along Interstate 70 between the Ohio state line and Elm Grove.