Memorial Bridge (Parkersburg, West Virginia)

The Memorial Bridge, locally known as the toll bridge, crosses the Ohio River connecting Belpre, Ohio and Parkersburg, West Virginia. The bridge is an alternate route to access U.S. Route 50 in Ohio from central Parkersburg.

Dedication sign at the west end of the bridge in Parkersburg

Memorial Bridge signage in Parkersburg, WV.

While some internal WVDOT documents refer to the bridge as West Virginia Route 140,[2] the number is not signed nor shown on state-issued maps.[3]

The bridge was completed c. 1954, and is of a steel through truss design, a combination of two camelback-Warren through trusses, and a 3-span cantilevered Warren through truss. It accommodates two lanes of traffic, one in either direction.

This bridge used to have a toll for passenger cars of $0.50; travelers also used to purchase tickets to reduce the toll from $0.50 to $0.40 per trip when $2.00 worth was purchased. There were no automatic lanes and E-ZPass was not accepted. As part of the rehabilitation work on the bridge in 2022–23, the toll equipment has been replaced with an electronic tolling gantry that will accept E-ZPass.

As of August 18, 2022, the bridge has been closed to all traffic indefinitely while a project to make improvements to the bridge is underway. Previously the bridge was reduced to one way traffic, but many vehicles were violating this by going around barriers which prompted the bridge partners to close it for safety of workers.[4] As of August 31, 2023, the bridge has been reopened to all traffic.