CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The state Division of Highways will implement new traffic flow on busy Interstate 64 through Charleston late Saturday night into early Sunday morning.
Part of an $18 million upgrade of bridges and ramps along Interstate 64, the pattern is designed to keep traffic flowing over the Eugene Carter Memorial Bridge and allow crews room to work.
“That’s when this change is going to take effect, (but) I think the true test, when everybody’s going to notice it, will be the first rush hour when everybody is headed to work on Monday,” said DOH spokesperson Carrie Bly.
Highway crews will open a dedicated “contraflow” lane for traffic headed to I-79 or I-77 northbound from the South Charleston side of the river. Traffic heading for those roads will move in the contraflow lane–a single lane of traffic headed east in the west-bound lanes. The contraflow lane will be feature concrete barriers on both sides.
“It’s going to take some time to get use to it,” said Bly. “We compare it to a roundabout—everybody hates it the first time they use it, but soon you realize this is going to keep all six lanes of traffic flowing in that area.”
Once the new flow is established, crews will begin working to repair expansion joins and resurface the elevated interstate surface through town. The project is expected to take up to eight months.
The repairs are critical, Bly said, because the most traveled highway in West Virginia handling an average of 109,000 vehicles daily.