Photo provided by: Jennifer Compston-Struff
Editor's note: This is the last in a series of articles examining the status of the Bellaire Bridge, which previously operated as a toll bridge between Bellaire and Benwood. The bridge has been closed for over 30 years and there are no viable plans for its removal.
BELLAIRE — Like others who lived in Bellaire, Bob Nee woke up one morning to find out that the Bellaire Bridge had been purchased by the state of Ohio.
That was more than 30 years ago, when Mr. Ney, a Republican, was a senator from Ohio and served on the Finance Committee. He resigned in 2006, long before his term in Congress ended with his guilty plea in a federal corruption case. Mr. Ney recently joined. In a phone interview, he talked about how the former toll bridge was closed, changed hands, and ended up sitting on the Ohio River, where he was left to rot quietly for more than 30 years. .
In 1991, the Ohio Department of Transportation was building the Ohio 7 Bypass in downtown Bellaire, creating the four-lane highway that local drivers are familiar with today. When the ramps to and from the bridge on the Ohio side became a hindrance to construction, the state purchased the span from a private Interstate Bridge Company and removed the ramps, rendering the bridge unusable.
Ney said he was surprised by the news because the Finance Committee worked with the Ohio Board of Supervisors to provide funding to ODOT.
“Every deal had to be over a certain amount,” Ney recalled earlier this year.
The purchase was made during the administration of former Gov. Richard Celeste and cost $690,000, Ney said. Ney said Democrat Celeste declared the situation an emergency and proceeded without approval from the Senate Finance Committee or the Ohio Board of Supervisors.
In addition to Mr. Ney, then-Congressman Ney represented eastern Ohio in the state legislature. Jack Serra is a Democrat and longtime Bellaire resident. Like Mr. Ney, he said he had no knowledge that an agreement had been made to buy and close the bridge. He acknowledged that the bridge ramp was an impediment to the Ohio 7 construction project, but said his “idea was to build a new ramp on the bridge.”
“The next thing we know, the bridge company decided they didn't want to stay in business anymore and got acquired by ODOT,” Serra said by phone Thursday, adding that $2.5 million to $3.5 million has already been allocated for construction. A new lamp that he said he believed had been installed. “I didn't understand the money aspect at all.
“Funding would have been set aside to demolish the bridge,” Serra continued. “I don't know what happened with that money. I think it was 700,000 yen, but I forget the exact amount. Next thing we knew, the deal was done. The bridge is still there. I don't know who the shareholders were, but they obviously took a lot of money with them.”
When Ney learned of the closure, he said he immediately contacted his ODOT contact and asked why the situation was an emergency. He tells her that if he had known about her plan, he would have tried to save her bridge, but she said that she already knew that. He claims the reason the bridge wasn't purchased through the “normal channels” was to “circumvent Congress, specifically me from Bellaire, who happened to be holding the purse strings.”
Ney said he still doesn't know who everyone involved in the deal is and called the Interstate Bridge Company a “ghost group.” But whoever they were, he said, “someone had the political will to contact the governor and buy this.” Ney said the bridge was then turned over to Bellaire resident and business owner Roger Barak, who was given a set period of time to demolish the bridge.
“I've never seen any documents and I've never talked to Roger (Barack) about it. I felt angry at the state for having our backs,” Ney said. “Jack and I should have had a say. The people of Bellaire have gone crazy. We couldn't find anyone willing to abandon the bridge.”
Serra also recalled his correspondence with ODOT's legislative officials at the time, saying, “I had a conversation with her about that and how on earth this happened.” He said he believes ODOT chose to purchase the bridge rather than build the ramp because the funds were already earmarked as part of the second phase of Ohio 7 construction.
Mr. Serra said Mr. Barak approached him with plans to build a ramp, but it was not completed and did not receive federal approval. He said Barak's plan would build an earthen access road to the bridge.
“When I tried to convince ODOT to work with him, they said he needed to accomplish a plan that would satisfy the Federal Highway Administration. The plan alone would have cost a significant amount of money. ODOT expected construction of the ramp would cost $2.5 million to $3.5 million.
He added: “We never knew how much money the bridging company received” and that it could have been all or part of the allocated funds. “The demolition money was separate from that money.”
Serra said there was also an effort in Bellaire, now a village but then a city, to determine whether building a bridge would be a profitable venture. The government set up a bridge committee to investigate the issue and produce a report on the bridge's viability.
“I think ODOT didn't want to keep the bridge open because they didn't think it was sustainable. That's just my opinion,” Serra said. “The income wasn't enough to sustain it. It would be nice to know who spent that money and didn't destroy the bridge.”
Mr. Ney said that when he finally discussed the bridge with Mr. Barak, Mr. Ney and others asked Mr. Barak to give him time to come up with a plan to do something with the bridge. Ney said Barak agreed, but did so under enormous pressure.
“Ultimately, I was the one who caused ODOT to collapse. We walked the entire length (of the bridge), and at the time it wasn't that degraded,” Ney said. “It would have been payable if we had some money to upgrade.”
He said people who met and walked across the bridge came up with a plan to build a new ramp using the former car park. The ramp would have gone off the bridge and into the parking lot. He said ODOT initially had no objections to the plans, but later said the project would be too expensive to complete. Ney said the uncertainty of the bridge's fate after so much time led to the federal lawsuit.
“Barack never asked me to do anything about the bridge,” Ney insists, noting that she was friends with Barak and rented office space in a building he owned, which led to criticism at the time. He pointed out that he had been exposed. “At some point, I contacted him and told him to tear it down.”
By then, Ney had been elected to Congress and served on the Transportation Committee. In his role, he said, he was able to secure funding to demolish the bridge. He said concrete and debris was falling from above the city of Benwood. Because it was so dangerous, Ney said he was almost able to secure about $1.7 million in federal funding for the work.
Ney continued to come under intense scrutiny over her relationship with Barak. He had appointed Barak's son Cody to the military academy, and Barak and his family donated to Ney's campaign and supported him as a candidate. As a result, Ney said other members of the Transportation Committee decided the issue was too controversial and Ney lost his appropriation.
“The money is gone,” Ney said. “…Roger Barak was a friend of mine, but he never came up to me and asked, 'Can you do something for me?'
Ney said the only way to successfully pay for the bridge's demolition was through federal funding, but negative publicity “ruined that.”
“The government didn't pay, but it will end up paying a lot more,” Ney added. “It's going to fall. Someone's going to get killed.”
Currently, Ney believes the cost of demolishing the bridge should be split between West Virginia, the state of Ohio, and the federal government.
“If we can give billions of dollars to foreign countries for wars, we can give federal funding to Bellaire Bridge,” he said. “I think the federal government has the legitimate ability to get involved in this issue.”
Sera agrees.
“I think the federal government has to dismantle it,” he said. “Ohio is not going to pay to tear it down now. They destroyed the ramp. … It's a threat to navigation… so to me, it would be about getting Congress involved. Neither state would do that. No way. That's what's happening to properties throughout this area – they're just allowed to deteriorate.…
“Ideally, West Virginia, Ohio and the federal government would all come together and share the cost of demolition,” Serra continued. “We're talking about commerce on the river, so federal authorities should pay most or all of the costs. … I don't know if that's on anyone's priority list.”
Serra noted that Eastern Ohio will soon have a new representative in office after Republican Bill Johnson resigned to become president of Youngstown State University. Although that person is not from Bellaire, like Ney and Serra, Serra is hopeful the bridge might get some attention.
“If that's a priority for both governors, maybe senators and congressmen will pay attention as well. That's what we need right now.
“If this was in Columbus, it would have been in Charleston 30 years ago,” Serra added. “I don't think either country has fulfilled its responsibility to do something about it.”