Gov. Jim Justice and other state officials dedicated the new Interstate 64 bridge at Nitro Friday.
“Y’all didn’t cheer loud enough for that,” Justice said, announcing the official name of the Nitro World War I Memorial Bridge over the Kanawha River. “Now come on, one more time, really loud.”
It will replace the Donald M. Legg Memorial Bridge, which opened in 1963. After all traffic is shifted to the new bridge in the next couple of weeks, the old span will be dismantled and recycled. A new bridge will be constructed in its place to carry eastbound traffic only.
Justice led a caravan of cars west across the new span Friday, with all westbound traffic to be shifted to the bridge on Saturday.
The bridges are part of a $225 million project to widen I-64 to six lanes from four between Nitro and Scott Depot. The project is part of Justice’s Roads to Prosperity, now a five-year effort to upgrade the state’s highways.