BLUEFIELD, W.Va. — Busy Interstate 77 in Mercer County will close completely for a period of time Friday.
The state DOH has to take care of an unstable hillside near the three-mile marker between Bluefield and Princeton so it will close all north and southbound lanes sometime between 10 a.m. and noon while blasting takes place.
The DOH said southbound lanes will reopen within a half hour of the blast while the fast lane northbound should reopen by dusk Friday.
Northbound I-77 traffic for most of Friday will be detoured onto U.S. Route 52 to U.S. Route 460 between Bluefield and Princeton.
The northbound lanes were closed for several days back in the spring following a rockslide in the same general area. The DOH wants the new slide to be taken care of in a controlled setting.