A portion of the Kanawha Turnpike, a busy South Charleston roadway, will be closed between Union Carbide Drive and Jefferson Road from 8 p.m. Friday, Sept. 1, 2023, through 6 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 2, 2023, to pour concrete on a new bridge deck.In April 2019, Gov. Jim Justice approved the bid award for the project to Kokosing Construction Company for $46.8 million to design and build the five-lane upgrade at Jefferson Road. In addition to widening Jefferson Road to five lanes, the project will replace a congested dogleg intersection and rail crossing at the intersection of Kanawha Turnpike and Jefferson Road with a new bridge and roundabout.
WVDOH has programmed message boards on Interstate 64 and US 119 to display messages on Thursday August 31, 2023 to warn motorists of the upcoming closure. The message board alerts for the closure will stay active until the road is opened back up.
The Jefferson Road widening project will work in conjunction with a new half-mile connector road to link Jefferson Road with RHL Boulevard. That project will add an additional access road to the Trace Fork Shopping Center, allowing direct access to Jefferson Road and alleviating congestion on both Jefferson Road and Corridor G. In September 2021, Triton Construction Inc. was awarded a contract for more than $10.9 million to build the connector road, which includes the construction of a 420-foot bridge.