CHARLESTON, WV – Contractors plan to start work the evening of Monday, Sept. 13, 2021, to narrow eastbound and westbound traffic lanes on Interstate 64 in the construction zone near the Nitro-St. Albans Bridge.
Eastbound lanes on the interstate will be narrowed to 11 feet for about one mile in the construction zone, while westbound lanes will be narrowed to 11 feet for about three miles. Narrow lanes will be in place through the fall as contractors prepare to widen I-64 from four to six lanes.
Work to paint new lane striping and install signage will begin the evening of Monday, Sept. 13, and continue for several days. Contractors expect to install barrier walls next week.
Contractors also plan to blast Wednesday, Sept. 15, Thursday, Sept. 16, and Friday, Sept. 17 as site work continues on new entrance and exit ramps near the Nitro-St. Albans Bridge. The new interchanges are part of a widening project for both I-64 and for the bridge.
Blasting is scheduled at 12:30 p.m. Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.
With the assistance of local law enforcement, contractors will temporarily slow traffic on both I-64 eastbound and westbound five to 10 minutes prior to the blast, and temporarily hold traffic at the I-64 eastbound/westbound on-ramps at the St. Albans Interchange (Exit 44) (WV817 area), and the I-64 westbound on-ramp at the Nitro Interchange (Exit 45) (WV25 area). Traffic will return to normal once blasting is complete.
The bridge upgrade is part of a $224.4 million project under Gov. Jim Justice’s Roads to Prosperity construction program to widen Interstate 64 to six lanes from Nitro to the US 35 interchange at Scott Depot. West Virginia Division of Highways plans to build a new bridge beside the existing Nitro-St. Albans Bridge to carry westbound traffic, then build a new bridge on the site of the existing structure using a portion of the existing bridge piers to carry eastbound traffic.