Welch promotes free parking, support for McDowell Street bridge project

Welch is leaning on two downtown messages at once: free parking now, and a bridge over McDowell Street that city leaders say could keep traffic moving when high water and crashes shut the underpass. On the city’s home page, the pitch is simple enough for shoppers and merchants alike, with complimentary parking and a call to support the McDowell Street bridge project aimed at making downtown Welch easier to reach.

The city says complimentary parking is available in Welch, and the visitors page ties the offer to weekend outings downtown, including movies, shopping and park visits. It specifically points people to the Welch Parking Garage on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, a downtown asset that has long been part of the city’s civic identity. Built in 1940-1941 and widely described as the first municipally owned and operated parking structure in the United States, the garage at 59 McDowell Street originally held space for 425 cars.

That parking message lands in a downtown the city says has 1,715 residents, sits at the forks of the Tug River and Elkhorn Creek, and has a historic district listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Welch also highlights the Pocahontas Theatre, Martha Moore Riverfront Park, Linkous Park and the Jack Caffrey Arts & Cultural Center as part of the draw for people coming into town.

The bigger access question is the Lower McDowell Street underpass on Route 16, where flooding and collisions have repeatedly cut off travel between downtown Welch, much of McDowell County and Welch Community Hospital. MetroNews reported in 2021 that the underpass flooded several times a year, averaged about one accident a month, and was impassable 12 to 14 times a year because of high water or wrecks. The city’s estimate for a bridge ran from $6 million to $10 million. WVNS later reported that five vehicles had already crashed into the underpass in 2024 and that the bridge campaign, called Build the bridge on McDowell Street, had reached the engineering phase.

The push gained more urgency after U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito visited Welch in April 2025 and discussed the bridge with Mayor Harold McBride at the underpass between downtown and Welch Community Hospital. Capito said the February 15, 2025 flood caused three McDowell County deaths and continued to affect the local economy and recovery effort. WVNS later identified the victims as Donald Griffin, Deborah Griffin and a 2-year-old boy, underscoring why Welch is selling the bridge not as a cosmetic project, but as a route to more dependable daily travel, deliveries and customer flow.