Welch seeks support for McDowell Street bridge over railroad underpass

A flooded railroad underpass on Lower McDowell Street still interrupts Welch’s daily circulation enough to strand drivers, reroute school traffic and slow emergency access, and city leaders are asking residents to back a bridge that would keep the road open during high-water events.

The City of Welch is collecting signatures for a letter supporting a proposed bridge over the underpass, framing the project as a permanent fix for a recurring problem rather than another temporary patch. The city is asking residents, businesses, government offices, schools, civic clubs and other community members to add their names as officials seek backing for a project they say would protect a key route through the county seat.

Lower McDowell Street is more than a neighborhood road in Welch. It is part of the travel pattern that connects downtown, public offices, nearby services and Welch Community Hospital. When the underpass floods or traffic is blocked by a crash, the detour can affect not only commuters but also deliveries, school routines and the ability of emergency vehicles to move quickly through town.

Local officials have been making that case for years. A 2021 MetroNews report said the underpass often floods when the Tug Fork River leaves its banks, and Welch police reported about one accident a month there. City officials said then that the route was impassable about 12 to 14 times a year because of high water and accidents. They estimated the bridge would cost about $6 million to $10 million and said state and federal help would be needed to build it.

The problem has only kept drawing attention. WVNS reported on April 16, 2024, that five vehicles had already crashed into the Welch underpass so far that year, and that state officials said the bridge project was in the engineering phase. The location has also become a frequent point of frustration for residents who know the underpass can go under water fast enough to sever one of the main links between downtown Welch and the hospital.

That concern sharpened after severe flooding in February 2025, when at least two people from Welch died and parts of McDowell County were again cut off by high water. On April 14, 2025, U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito met with Mayor Harold McBride at the underpass on Route 16 between downtown Welch and Welch Community Hospital, where McBride said flooding can cut the hospital off from the rest of the county.

Welch is still trying to turn that long-running proposal into a funded project, with city leaders arguing that the bridge would protect not just traffic flow but public safety, access and the day-to-day viability of the county seat.