The Main Street Wheeling exit on I-70 off the Fort Henry Bridge will not be closing prior to the reopening of the interstate.

On Thursday, West Virginia Division of Highways District 6 Engineer Tony Clark announced that the interstate closure east of the Wheeling Tunnel should be wrapping up in the coming weeks.

That's good news for a few reasons, including the fact that the exit into downtown will remain open through that date before closing to traffic.

“The eastbound will definitely be open before that,” Clark said. “We weren't sure if that was going to happen, depending on how things worked. But now I can say with confidence that eastbound will be open before that ramp closes.”

The date for the closure of that exit has changed numerous times -- and it's been a big concern for many people who need to access downtown Wheeling.

The bridge has been half-wrapped for weeks, as crews continue a paint job that will make the structure all blue.

Once that painting ends, the ramp will likely close soon after.

“It looks like the bridge painting is going to wrap up in 2-3 weeks, so sometime around that time frame, again weather dependent, several outside factors there -- it's looking like a couple weeks they'll probably close down the ramp for some preliminary work,” Clark said.