Work crews erected a sign Thursday morning along the 500 block of Ann Street in Parkersburg to warn drivers of work being done on the nearby Juliana Street Bridge ramps. Work is scheduled to begin the second week in April. (Photo by Art Smith)

PARKERSBURG — Everything is on track for work to begin the second week in April on the replacement of the ramps going onto and off of a bridge in downtown Parkersburg.

Crews have been putting up signs and getting other things in place around the Juliana Street Bridge as work is about to begin on a multiyear, multimillion-dollar project that will replace the ramps on and off the bridge over the next two years.

“Everything is still planned to start the second week of April with the work to cut out the median to where they can work on the crossover,” said Joshua Smith, construction engineer for the West Virginia Division of Highway District 3.

Once there is a traffic change, the WVDOT will put out a press release to the local media to inform the public what to expect and changes they may have to make, Smith said.

The Juliana Street Bridge ramps going into and out of Parkersburg on Juliana and Ann streets are set to be replaced over the next two years.

The ramps will be replaced in two phases, starting with the one coming into Parkersburg, closest to the Wood County Courthouse, Smith said. The entire ramp structure will be demolished except for one or two concrete piers.Traffic both ways will be diverted on the other ramp, officials said.

The $17,565,000 contract was awarded to Triton Construction. Its scheduled completion date is Aug. 28, 2028.

It should take about a year to demolish the existing ramp and build the new one, officials said. Once the new ramp is completed, the ramp leading out of Parkersburg will be demolished while traffic is maintained in both directions on the new one.

The concrete girders underneath the ramps will be replaced with steel ones, like the bridge itself has. The concrete piers will be rebuilt.