The Peculiar (and Abandoned) Pedestrian Walkways of Charleston, West Virginia

Back in 2016, we passed through Charleston, WV on our way to Williamsburg, VA. It seemed like a nice place with its downtown and Capitol Building nestled in the valley below the highway, but there was a certain structure that caught my eye. We drove under a series of unique walkways connected to highway ramps that looked dated, maybe even abandoned. These weren’t simple sidewalks, these were a series of ramps wrapped in anti-suicide cages connected by staircases and protected from the elements with 70’s era lighting and glass. In all the American cities I’d been to, I’d never seen any urban element quite like it.

- Charleston's overpass walkways as seen from the interstate.

In a way, they were like skywalks, but instead of connecting various downtown buildings it seemed to just be an elaborate pedestrian link from Charleston’s downtown to the hillside neighborhood separated by the highway. To top it off, the structures looked dilapidated and grimy with no one walking on them. I wondered if they were just victims of no aesthetic maintenance or if they were disused. A few quick Google searches didn’t reveal anything and I forgot about them after we passed them once more on the drive home. At the end of 2017, though, we had plans to stop in Charleston and I wanted to see these things up close. So on a snowy morning, we went to investigate some curiosity.

- Tower 1.

The walkway system runs from the first tower near the West Virginia Market place, an indoor/outdoor public market. Stairs take users a few flights up to a walkway connected to a highway exit ramp.

- Detail of the fencing surrounding the walkway alongside the highway exit ramp.

Caged fencing completely surrounds the pathway which then heads northeast over railroad tracks towards a second tower, the base of which connects to a more industrial part of town near a Honda dealer and garden outlet.

- Towers 2 and 3 as seen from tower 1.

- Tower 2.

- Tower 2.

- Tower 1 as seen from tower 2.

If you keep following the pathway, it’ll take you over Interstates 77 and 64 to a third tower planted in a grassy berm between highway roads. This tower features the same enclosed stairways and lighting as the other two, connecting the pathway to a set of hillside steps which eventually end in a neighborhood atop the hill. That’s the best description I can give from looking at the thing on Google Maps, because you can’t actually walk this pathway.

- Tower 3 and hillside steps as seen from tower 2.

- Tower 3.

Starting at the first tower, we found it completely sealed off. No lights were on and welded sheet metal with no openings seems to be doing its job of keeping everyone out.

Driving to the second tower, the local Honda dealer has placed showpiece vehicles right up against the tower’s base. Similar sealed entrances can be found here and the whole thing would seem like nothing more than a highway support were it not for the stairs and dark glass. The concrete supports and their decorative lighting scream of the late 60’s and early 70’s. Looking up, the chainlink fence pathways are rusting and feature an orange/brown hue.

Looking over at the third tower, you can see that the glass doesn’t surround the entire set of stairs. It’s open to the elements in some parts. Unable to reach that tower, we drove up to the end of the pathway.

The hillside neighborhood isn’t like the ones you’d find in Cincinnati's Mt. Adams or Pittsburgh's Mt. Washington, it’s a purely residential area. It’s nice, filled with typical mid-20th Century suburban style homes that just happen to have a nice view of the urban core below. There’s no bars or businesses in the immediate vicinity of the overpass walkway, just houses.

A sign at the top of the stairs states: “Overpass Walkway Closed,” but there’s nothing keeping you from walking down the stairs along the hillside. Typical concrete steps with metal railings found in other hilly cities wind down towards the third tower. Vegetation has grown wild over this area, something easily navigated when the winter cold keeps it from growing. At the bottom of the stairs, the chain link fencing begins and descends a bit further, above the highway, to the third tower. However, a massive piece of metal keeps anyone from walking the path.

It’s still possible to walk from this neighborhood to Downtown Charleston in a round about way, but this pedestrian path once gave direct access and a shortcut. At the same time, I wondered what kind of frequent trips needed to be made between a purely residential neighborhood and an industrial section of Downtown. To be fair, the final section between towers 1 and 2 could link pedestrians with the local market and within a block of the minor league baseball stadium. Figuring the whole walkway dated back a few decades, I admired the Charleston urban planner’s foresight and creativity in trying to link the downtown with a nearby neighborhood, but I wondered why it was no longer used.

A resident walking his dog at the top of the stairs as I climbed back up kind of clued me in. “The homeless were using it as a bathroom,” he said. He had no idea how long it had been closed down, but that’s what he had heard was the reason for closure. While the pathway’s unique shelters gave some protection from the elements for pedestrians, I could definitely see how they’d be utilized as shelter for those experiencing homelessness. I’m not aware of the issue in Charleston and overall that’s a broader topic for another day, but that kind of perception can lead to poor reputations for parts of urban environments.

I still couldn’t find any information about the walkway on the internet such as to when it was built, when it closed, or why. A topic I started on Reddit yielded only one response, with someone stating:

"I don’t know when it was built, it was before my time (born and raised in CRW here), but it was closed sometime in the early 90s. The areas it connects, both at the street level and up on the hill were notorious for being rather seedy with drug users, prostitution and homeless people. I think there were a few assaults....robberies and rapes....that ended there and that was why it was closed."

There seems to be some moves being made in Charleston to improve cycling and pedestrian access throughout the city, but this overpass walkway doesn't seem to be a priority for anyone. Nor does anyone seem to miss the access it provided. No one (online at least) even mentions it at all. Nevertheless, it’s a unique abandoned structure hanging over the highway, a remnant of past urban planning theories, a creative way to try and bridge the disconnect created by the Interstate.

- Blocked access to the rest of the walkway and towers.

- Detail of the metal keeping the walkway from being used.