CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WCHS) — Highway officials have taken the next steps necessary to replace a bridge deck for one of West Virginia’s busiest spans.

Charleston’s Fort Hill Bridge was the topic of discussion Wednesday as West Virginia Division of Highways engineers met with officials from the Federal Highway Association and city leaders from Charleston and South Charleston, according to a news release from the DOH.

The news release accompanies the launch of a public website which provides a timeline for the project:

FEBRUARY 2026

The DOH plan to meet with first responders, elected officials and business owners to gather input on the project.

MARCH 2026

The deck replacement is expected to be advertised.

JUNE 2026

Bids for the project will be accepted.

AUGUST 2026

Contractors will build median crossovers that will be used by traffic during the deck replacement.

DECEMBER 2026 – JANUARY 2027

Work will be suspended for the holiday season.

JANUARY 2027 – DECEMBER 2027

Interstate 64 will be reduced to two lanes east and westbound. The deck replacement is expected to be complete on Wednesday, Dec. 1.

MAY 2028

Crossovers will be removed and other minor work will be completed.

Contractors are expected to work 20 hours shifts six days per week until the project is complete. The DOH noted contractors will be offered financial incentives to finish early.

The 50-year-old span was under construction last year as contractors patched potholes and put down an impermeable membrane to prevent water from reaching the concrete deck.

The bridge carries roughly 100,000 vehicles per day across the Kanawha River in West Virginia’s capital city.

Wyoming is still gaining residents, but the real story isn’t how many people are moving in — it’s how quickly the state’s population is aging. Births are barely keeping up with deaths, and with fewer young people to replace them, Wyoming is entering a new era where older residents are quietly reshaping the economy, communities, and the future of the state itself.

According to the latest U.S. Census estimates, Wyoming’s population reached about 588,753 in July 2025, an increase of just over 2,000 people from a year earlier. That works out to about 0.3 percent growth — still upward, but slow. And most of that growth is coming from people moving here, not babies being born. Natural growth — the difference between births and deaths — added fewer than 300 people during the year. That reflects years of lower birth rates and a growing number of older residents.

Wyoming’s aging trend is among the fastest in the country.

The number of residents age 65 and older grew at a faster rate than the overall population, making the state’s median age rise more quickly than the national average. Analysts say this is driven by the large baby boomer cohort moving into retirement and by younger generations leaving the state.

Wenlin Liu, chief economist with the state’s Economic Analysis Division, bluntly described the demographic shift: the state’s older population is growing fast, while outmigration of young people and lower birth rates continue to shrink the pool of working-age Wyomingites. That’s already contributing to labor shortages in key sectors.

The trend is real and concerning.

Josh Dorrell, CEO of the Wyoming Business Council, has warned lawmakers that Wyoming faces a “chicken‑and‑egg” problem: there aren’t enough jobs to keep young people here, and without more young people it’s harder to build the kinds of economies that create jobs in the first place. “We don’t have enough people to attract the jobs and we don’t have enough jobs to attract the people,” Dorrell told a legislative committee last summer.

Surveys of Wyoming residents mirror that concern. A recent poll presented to county officials found that most voters want stronger action to grow local economies and create opportunities to keep young people from leaving. Dorrell noted that two out of every three Wyoming‑born adults move away by their mid‑20s, often because they can’t find the jobs they want close to home.

The demographic shift carries consequences beyond just census numbers. An aging population has different needs — more health care services, more senior‑friendly housing, more support systems — while the shrinking share of younger adults can shrink the labor force available for schools, hospitals, factories and small businesses.

Despite the state’s strong job market — with unemployment remaining low — leaders worry about what happens next when more boomers retire and fewer young workers are around to replace them.

Wyoming’s growth story may still be positive on the surface, but the deeper reality is that the Cowboy State is aging faster than it’s growing younger. That shift is already changing communities from Cheyenne to Sheridan, and may have long‑lasting effects on the state’s economy, schools, and way of life in the years ahead.