After several years of being promised the old Market Street Bridge in Man would be fixed or replaced, with several deadlines coming and going, members of the Town of Man Council are hopeful that the promise will become a reality, thanks to the assistance of the West Virginia Senate President.

At the March meeting of the Man Town Council Mayor Jim Blevins said some council members had met with Earl Ray Tomblin about the longtime issue and that Tomblin called him later and said the town would get both its bridges back.

Councilman Roger Muncy said he felt a lot more confident about the future of the Market Street Bridge, which closure has taken its toll on the town, after he heard the word from Sen. Tomblin.

Tomblin reportedly told Mayor Blevins that work on the bridge should begin within the next 12 months. Councilman Jimmy Justice said the town had been frustrated with promises that were never delivered when it came to the bridge project and apparently Tomblin felt the same.

City employee Dwayne Mounts noted that the state had promised the town the Market Street Bridge would be reopened back when Bob Wise was governor and that promised dates and deadlines came and went with no repairs or revisions or reopenings. At one point, the state had discussed removing the bridge entirely and putting a culvert drain in the area and paving over it as a simple and inexpensive solution, but even that project fell to the wayside.

"I hope that you get it, but I will believe it when I see some heavy equipment from the state parked over there," Mounts quipped.

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