With the Fort Steuben bridge shut down, concerns are bubbling up among the local leaders on the safety and longevity of the Market Street and Veterans Memorial bridges.

Bob Whipp with the West Virginia Department of Highways said, "The main concerns about Market Street are in the tiles. There's a lot of rust forcing the steel apart."

The Mountain State plans to pump $10 million in repairs into the bridge, hoping to keep it alive for at least another decade.

WV Senator Ed Bowman said, "I was told initially, 'This is the worst condition bridge in the state of West Virginia.' I was told they do inspections every six months and any one of those could lead to the decision to shut the bridge down."

There's still talk of making Market Street a toll bridge; in fact, Bowman is drafting legislation.

"The language would say those dollars can't go any place other than maintenance of the Market Street bridge," said Bowman.

If the Market Street bridge closes, all traffic will travel across the Veterans Memorial bridge, which is already under construction.

"Unfortunately, with the stress on the hinges of the bridge they didn't work as long as they were supposed to," said Whipp.

If the Veterans Memorial bridge is the sole crossing, Ohio crews said it could cause a major traffic troubles.

Ohio Department of Transportation Planning Administrator, Greg Gurney said, "If both bridges go down, there will be congestion at the intersection of Route 7 and University Blvd."

While West Virginia crews work on keeping the Market Street bridge open, O-DOT isn't wasting time.

Within the next 5-6 years, they hope to improve Ohio's entrance to the Veterans Memorial bridge, in case it does end up the only structure standing.

-NEWS9