Three major long-term highway projects undertaken by the West Virginia Division of Highways (WVDOH) are nearing completion later this year or in early 2025, and will improve safety and driving conditions for decades to come.
Work is nearly complete on the new Donald M. Legg Memorial Bridge on Interstate 64, a major milestone of Gov. Jim Justice’s $2.8 billion Roads to Prosperity construction and maintenance program. The span crosses the Kanawha River between the Nitro and St. Albans exits and is part of an approximately $225 million project to upgrade I-64 to six lanes between Nitro and the US 35 exit.
In addition to widening work on I-64, the project also called for the construction of five new bridges, new entrance and exit ramps, and the construction of the Nitro WW I Memorial Bridge.
In October 2022, Gov. Justice announced the opening of the Nitro WW I Memorial Bridge just north of the old Donald M. Legg Memorial Bridge to carry westbound traffic. The old bridge was rebuilt using a portion of the existing piers to carry traffic east. Each bridge will be four lanes wide, to allow drivers traveling between the Nitro and St. Albans exits to drive without having to merge into through traffic.
The new bridge is complete, but paving, signage and lighting must still be installed. Work also continues on ramps and a new bridge over WV 25. Widening work on I-64 is also nearly complete. Completion date on the project is late 2024 or spring of 2025.
Completion of the two bridges and widening I-64 to six lanes will open a major bottleneck on one of the most heavily travelled sections of interstate in West Virginia. The old Donald M. Legg Memorial Bridge carried approximately 60,000 vehicles a day.
Widening work is also nearing completion on two more major Roads to Prosperity projects to widen I-64 between Barboursville and Huntington at a cost of approximately $179 million.
Work is in the final phase on a project to widen I-64 to eight lanes between East Mall Road in Barboursville and the Merritt’s Creek interchange. Widening work continues and demolition and construction are underway on five bridges along the stretch of interstate.
Work is also nearing completion to widen I-64 to six lanes from Merritt’s Creek to the 29th Street exit at Huntington. At the heart of the project is construction of the Guyandotte River Bridge, which is 1,224 feet long. Steel work on the new span began in late April 2024.
Completion of both widening projects is projected for the spring of 2025.
Combined with widening work already done, the widening projects on I-64 from Nitro to US 35 and in the Barboursville area will increase safety and ease congestion along some of the most heavily traveled sections of the interstate.
Work should be finished this fall on the Scott Miller Hill Bypass project in Roane County. The approximately $44 million project on US 33 between Spencer and Ripley runs from Tuckers Run to Middle Fork and bypasses a section of US 33 that contains numerous bad curves. The project will improve safety and aid commercial traffic.
The 4.3-mile bypass project, about 40 years in the making, is designed to improve access and promote business growth in Roane County and the town of Spencer.
A major bridge along the route is complete except for the placement of parapets, while contractors continue to lay asphalt along the route. Once asphalt is complete, the eastern and western ends of the project will need to be tied into existing US 33.
