New westbound entrance and exit ramps for the St. Albans exit of Interstate 64 are open to traffic now. The West Virginia Division of Highways announced the opening this week and said the new ramps are part of a $224 million project to widen I-64 to six lanes from Nitro to the US 35 interchange near Scott Depot. The project also includes construction of a new bridge adjacent to the existing Nitro-St. Albans Bridge and replacing several smaller bridges between Nitro and Scott Depot.
The new westbound St. Albans interchange replaces the existing single bridge with two new bridges, one for traffic entering I-64 and the other for traffic getting off I-64. Plans call for building a new bridge just downstream of the existing Nitro-St. Albans Bridge to carry westbound traffic, then demolishing the existing bridge and replacing it with a new span using a portion of the existing bridge piers to carry eastbound traffic. The entire project, which is funded by Gov. Jim Justice’s $2.8 billion Roads to Prosperity program, is expected to be complete in late 2024.