Detours are disastrous on Day Avenue, Roanoke residents say, as the old Wasena Bridge readies for demolition.
Inconvenience is a part of the bridge building process, said Mayor Sherman Lea, responding to residents鈥 complaints about frazzled motorists careening through narrow neighborhood streets.
澳门六合彩平台 bridge, carrying Main Street, connects Wasena to Old Southwest and Elm Avenue. A rebuild, priced at $50 million, opens spring 2026, as Archer Western Construction crews this week prep to demolish the 86-year-old steel and concrete bridge.
Roanoke's Wasena Bridge is seen on April 19, days before the replacement project began. 澳门六合彩平台 city has detour signs posted around the downtown area now that the bridge is closed.
More signage will be installed to clarify the best detour routing around the Wasena Main Street bridge construction, said Public Works Director Ross Campbell during the city council鈥檚 meeting Monday afternoon.
鈥湴拿帕喜势教╮e are concerns in Old Southwest with motorist behavior,鈥 Campbell said. 鈥淲e do have motorists that are passing by the established detour route on Franklin, Campbell and Memorial.鈥
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He said six additional detour signs were installed last week, which helped reduce the number of drivers traveling alternate routes through neighborhoods. Fourteen more 鈥渓ocal traffic only鈥 signs are on special order, he said.
A crawler excavator lays groundwork for demolition of the Main Street Bridge connecting Wasena and Old Southwest in Roanoke. 澳门六合彩平台 replacement bridge should open spring 2026.
鈥湴拿帕喜势教 safest, the quickest and easiest way to avoid bridge construction is to actually stay on the established detour route,鈥 Campbell said. 鈥淚t is not quicker to drive down Day Avenue. It is not quicker to drive down Marshall Avenue.鈥
澳门六合彩平台 city also asked contractors to move 鈥渞oad closed鈥 signs a block further on Elm Avenue, from Sixth Street up to Fifth Street Southwest, Campbell said.
Roanoke residents deserve better, said Jim Hosch, president of Wasena Neighborhood Forum, speaking during the city council鈥檚 citizen comment session.
鈥淪afety issues, confusing signage, inadequate protection for greenway users. Traffic patterns that force cars down one-way streets 鈥 the wrong way,鈥 Hosch said. 鈥淐lose calls, property damage. Standoffs with school buses. And I believe a frustrated citizen unlawfully discharged a firearm as well, in one of those gridlocked impasses.鈥
Part of Winchester Avenue Southwest is closed while the Wasena Bridge is rebuilt. 澳门六合彩平台 replacement bridge should open spring 2026.
Roanoke police on Tuesday did not immediately respond to an inquiry about the alleged firearm discharge.
From the other side of the bridge closure, drivers on Day Avenue are bypassing the city鈥檚 recommended detours and instead speeding down the narrow street, said residents including Nicholas Williams.
鈥湴拿帕喜势教 traffic on Day Avenue is horrendous,鈥 Williams said. 鈥淚 personally have almost been hit three times while trying to cross at a stop sign.鈥
Furthermore, cyclists are concerned about bridge designs showing bike lanes too close to car traffic, Hosch said. City documents say bike riders will also be able to peddle on the new bridge鈥檚 wide sidewalk, giving plenty of separation from car traffic.
鈥淚鈥檓 not here to dwell on how we arrived at this point, but to ask that we do better starting right now,鈥 Hosch said. 鈥湴拿帕喜势教╮e is opportunity, and there鈥檚 still time to improve all of it. We can make it safe, we can make it functional, and we can make it cool.鈥
City Manager Bob Cowell said the affected section of greenway could have just closed outright, but at least the detour on Winchester Avenue allows users to get around bridge construction.
鈥淲hat we arrived at was a compromise,鈥 Cowell said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not perfect for everybody.鈥
Campbell, the public works director, added that new bridges are often built parallel to the old ones, so traffic isn鈥檛 interrupted. That wasn鈥檛 possible for this project, partly because of its location.
鈥淭his one is unique,鈥 Campbell said. 鈥淧articularly with the fact we have it crossing over an in-use portion of the railroad.鈥
Lea, the mayor, said some similar pains occurred when the Franklin Road bridge was rebuilt. It reopened in 2019.
鈥淚nconvenience is a part of this. We knew that coming in,鈥 Lea said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a work in progress. We want to make sure people are safe.鈥
Tuesday morning, a crawler excavator from Little Main Street graded a dirt path for more construction equipment to access the bridge.
Cars whipped U-turns in front of the roadblocks on Elm Avenue. Bicyclists followed detour signs pointing across Winona Avenue.
