PARSONS -- Cars and trucks travel across the new Shavers Fork Bridge in Parsons at all hours of the day and night, but right beside of it sits a 120 year old reminder of how people used to travel: a railroad bridge. It's empty and inaccessible now, but the city of Parsons is planning to change that.

"It's the only one in the county left. And I think we ought to preserve it," says Parsons City Councilman Pete Roy.

Roy says Parsons will soon be doing just that, thanks to an $80,000 grant from the Division of Highways Recreational Trails program. He says the old bridge will be fixed up so that pedestrians and bicyclists heading into town or using the Allegheny Highlands Trail can cross the river.

"It had a little cutting on it from when they were going to tear it down at one time, so that will have to be welded and taken care of. Number two is to put a floor in it to go across it," says Roy.

Right now, Roy says bicyclists and pedestrians use the new bridge to cross the river, but he says the restored bridge would be safer and bicyclists agree.

"Well, you could get hit with a car here you know. You never know, someone's drunk or something you know? You could run off the road and hit you or something could be hanging off of a truck or something," says Steve McDonald, a bicyclist who travels across the new bridge at least three times a week.

While bicyclists are excited for a safer bridge, historians say they're looking forward to bringing back a piece of the past.

"Hopefully it can stand for another 100 years because it's been built strong," says James Phillips, with the Tucker County Historical Society.

Roy says he's hoping the project will be put out to bid this fall.

He says the city still needs to raise money to paint the bridge, so if you would like to make a donation, you can send a check to City Hall.