Interstate 77 To Be Rebuilt ‘From Ground Up’ In Kanawha County, Costing $51 Million

Travelers on one of West Virginia’s busiest interstates may soon be redirected to alternate routes as the West Virginia Division of Highways (WVDOH) begins a $51 million repair project on Interstate 77.

WVDOH engineers say the roadway — which stretches from the Virginia state line in Mercer County to the Ohio state line in Wood County — will need to be rebuilt “from the ground up” between northern Kanawha County and the Jackson County line.

“At times, our roadways age to the point where simple rehabilitation is no longer a viable option,” said WVDOH Chief Engineer of Operations Joe Pack in a Friday press release.

Pack said state engineers determined that completely rebuilding the roughly seven-mile portion of I-77 would cost less than repairing its existing infrastructure on an annual basis.

The project’s more than $51,252,600 contract was awarded to West Virginia Paving, an asphalt producer and highway construction contractor based in the Kanawha County city of Dunbar.

The project is one of 23 across the state announced by the WVDOH this week.

Other projects include a more than $13 million repair on a Boone County bridge, and a $7 million streetlight installation for highway exits in Jackson and Wood counties.

The WVDOH awarded contracts on each project through a bidding process, which takes into consideration a bid’s costs relative to costs estimated by WVDOH engineers.

“Most projects are reviewed, analyzed, and awarded within a week of the bid letting, but the process can take longer,” the WVODH said in its press release Thursday.

For a map of current construction projects on West Virginia roadways, visit the website for West Virginia 511, the state’s free traveler information system.