Construction crews began moving dirt and clearing trees on December 21, 2020, at the Bills Creek Bridge over I-64 to kick off a $224.4 million project to upgrade I-64 to six lanes between U.S. 35 and Cross Lanes.

Gov. Jim Justice and United States Senator Shelley Moore Capito waited until Wednesday, April 7, to celebrate the project’s beginning with an official groundbreaking ceremony.

With the I-64 Nitro/St. Albans Bridge serving as a background, Gov. Justice and Senator Capito were joined by WVDOH Commissioner Byrd White and Deputy Commissioner Jimmy Wriston in tossing shovel fulls of dirt into the air.

The project includes a second interstate bridge over the Kanawha, new bridges at Bills Creek Road, Rocky Step Road, and McClung Road, completely new Nitro and St. Albans interchanges, in addition to the added lanes.

The project, which is being completed by the joint venture of Brayman Construction and Trumbull Construction, calls for 3.8 miles of I-64 to be widened from four lanes to six lanes, including the section between the Nitro and St. Albans interchanges, which will be further widened to eight lanes. The project is slated to be finished by October 2024.