CHARLESTON, W.Va.--The coverings have come off the top of the Fort Hill Bridge, revealing the new look of the state's most heavily traveled span.
Workers are still busy painting the underside of the bridge, but travelers and city residents now have a good idea of what it will look like when finished.
Some residents said they are happy that the bridge is getting a facelift, even if the color isn't exactly what they had in mind. Others find the color garish.
Last year, the state allowed residents to vote on the paint color. Residents were offered a choice of dark blue, green, light blue, maroon or gray.
The vote quickly became an outcropping of the bitter rivalry between Marshall University and West Virginia University. Marshall fans supported green, while WVU fans supported dark blue.
In the end, dark blue was the victor, with 55,727 votes. Green received 40,273 votes.
But the color of the bridge isn't classic Mountaineer blue. The state Division of Highways has said all along that green and blue were not selected as options because of school colors.
DOH spokesman Brent Walker reaffirmed that statement on Monday.
"It was never in our minds designed to be anything other than a dark blue," Walker said. "The public created that situation."
Although he attended both WVU and Marshall, area attorney Rusty Webb is a Marshall fan. He hates the color of the bridge, but he said it has nothing to do with his loyalties to the Thundering Herd.
"It's tacky and it's embarrassing," he said. "They should have painted it some kind of neutral color."
Webb recently moved to Kanawha City. He said he's glad to be on the other side of town so that he doesn't have to see the bridge every day.
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