Nice Bridge, but a Lane’s Missing

State highway officials say they didn’t realize until too late that they were building a two-lane bridge for a three-lane section of the West Virginia Turnpike.

“It sounds a lot worse than it is,” said spokesman John Gallagher.

Gallagher said the original plan called for two lanes of traffic on the expressway, but officials decided later to add a third lane for trucks and slower traffic.

The bridge has a 12-foot shoulder, so it will be able to accommodate three lanes, and plans are under way to add six feet to the bridge’s width, he said.

“I don’t know why this error occurred,” Gallagher said. “But we make mistakes occasionally. Human error.”