Early beginnings The first segment of I-64 in West Virginia to be let to construction was in
Cabell County in 1957. This segment, from
US Route 60 (US 60) at milepost 15 to
Ona at milepost 20, was completed in 1960. In 1962, a lengthy segment from exit 28 at
Milton to just west of exit 44 was opened to traffic. towering above the creekbed. The
New River crossing is at milepost 137 on the Mary Draper Ingles Bridge, named after
an American pioneer. The highway also traverses through a wildlife refuge and marsh near milepost 154.
Continuing improvements Continuing improvements and new interchanges were discussed throughout the 1990s and 2000s. Exit 20, the main road to the Huntington Mall and its associated developments along with
US 60, was originally constructed as a
diamond interchange that served
Ona and US 60. The land surrounding the interchange was entirely rural and would not be developed until 1981 when
Huntington Mall was completed. The diamond interchange configuration was reconstructed into a five-ramp
partial cloverleaf interchange. Exit 20A served US 60 while exit 20B was for Huntington Mall. By 2001, development consumed both sides of the Interstate. On holiday shopping days, traffic would congest at the interchange and cause major backups on the Interstate. In 2001, the
West Virginia Department of Transportation (WVDOT) constructed a new ramp, exit 20A, that would serve US 60 and the west end of Huntington Mall. The original exit 20A ramp was removed. Exit 20B was kept, for the most part, in its current position with a left turn lane added that allowed it to serve the east end of Huntington Mall, Melody Farm Road, and US 60. In the same year, a new interchange opened for
WV 193 (Merritts Creek Connector) at
Barboursville. Exit 18 serves a new four-lane highway that links US 60 and
WV 2 together. In 2002,
cable barriers were installed in the median from milepost 6 to milepost 15 as a stopgap measure. These new barriers, installed for $2 million (equivalent to $ in ), required the regrading of the median and upgrades to the drainage system. These new protective devices have proved to be worthwhile, preventing many crossover accidents which have plagued the highway since the 1990s, mostly attributed to an increase in traffic on the overburdened Interstate Highway. This cable barrier system was extended to exit 28 at
Milton in 2005, and future measures will ensure that the rest of the Interstate Highway system in
West Virginia, where a depressed grassy median of similar width exists, will receive one. Aging roadbeds and bridges are of large concern to the WVDOT. Many Interstate Highway spans are approaching the end of their useful life span, several nearing 40 years of age. One such span was in the
Huntington–Ashland metropolitan area which showed significant signs of deterioration. The
WV 10/Hale Greer Boulevard crossings were approaching 40 years of life and decayed to the point where regular maintenance was needed. A segment of the westbound bridge collapsed in early 2002 after a harsh winter, for example, and this only highlighted the problems being experienced on the original I-64 spans. The two spans at WV 10 were replaced with a new wider crossing in 2009. In 2003, the demolition of the West Pea Ridge Road overpass began. The bridge, built in 1961, utilized steel girders that had become deteriorated over the years and were replaced with prestressed concrete beams. Construction was completed in late 2004. The second
Kanawha River crossing between
Dunbar and
South Charleston was twinned. The new bridge, carrying eastbound traffic, was finished in October 2010. The old bridge was rehabilitated and converted to oneway traffic, with completion in October 2012. The combined bridges carry six throughlanes, three in each direction, with two auxiliary lanes to service the Dunbar and MacCorkle avenue exits on each side of the bridge. The mainspan of the new eastbound structure, at , is the longest box girder span in the US. With the completion of the new eastbound bridge and the rehabilitation of the existing bridge for westbound traffic, I-64 has at least six lanes from Charleston to Nitro. , the third Kanawha River crossing at Nitro is currently under reconstruction in a project very similar to the South Charleston expansion. The Nitro crossing will be twinned, with the new bridge carrying westbound traffic. The existing bridge will be demolished and rebuilt to carry eastbound traffic. The combined spans will carry six throughlanes, three in each direction, with two auxiliary lanes servicing the Nitro and St. Albans exits on each side of the bridge. The project will also include new bridges over Rocky Step Road and McCloud Road and result in six throughlanes (three in each direction) from Charleston to the interchange with
US 35. Construction is scheduled to be completed in 2023. Other notable recent projects: • The Darnell Road Bridge replacement is just west of the Barboursville/US 60 interchange at milepost 15. The four-lane span is being replaced with a six-lane crossing at a cost of $7.5 million (equivalent to $ in ). It was completed in mid-2006. • The Hubbard Branch overpass near milepost 2 was replaced in 2005. • The Edgewood Drive overpass near milepost 3 and the 19th Street overpass near milepost 5.5 and exit 6 was replaced in 2006. • The Crossroads underpass to tunnel conversion was completed in 2006 at milepost 12. • The $5-million (equivalent to $ in ) Milton interchange project at milepost 28 was completed in 2009. • A new US 35 interchange in Teays Valley was started in 2003 and is now complete. A hybrid
semi-directional T/diamond interchange connects I-64 to the new US 35 corridor route from Teays Valley to the previous US 35 alignment near
Buffalo. In addition, I-64 has been widened to six lanes between this interchange and exit 39 at
WV 34. • Widening began on a segment from
Nitro to Dunbar in 2001 and was completed in 2004. The state's long-term construction forecast, for a six-lane Interstate from milepost 6 at
West Huntington to
Charleston and bridge replacements west of milepost 6 to the
Kentucky state line, will take 30 years to complete at present funding levels and cost more than $325 million. ==Naming==