​ CHARLESTON, WV – West Virginia Department of Transportation Secretary Byrd White and Deputy Secretary Jimmy Wriston, P.E., paid a surprise visit to the contractors working on the final stretch of Route 35 on Tuesday, August 10, 2021. 

The pair spoke with workers, laid eyes on the progress of the work and Deputy Secretary Wriston drove the big paving machine - which is wide enough to pave two lanes at once.  

This important project, which would not have been possible without funding from Governor Jim Justice's Roads to Prosperity Program, has been a goal of West Virginia Division of Highways since the 1980's.  When complete, the road will improve safety by taking traffic off the existing, heavily traveled, two-lane section of Route 35. 

Contractors are putting the final layer of asphalt on the last 14.6-mile section of the four-lane upgrade of US 35 and installing guardrail along the route. Temporary lighting for crossovers is also ready for installation. West Virginia Division of Highways is working with the Department of Environmental Protection to move sediment control devices to allow paving the medians. 

Yet to come are installing signs along the route, paving the new interchanges where the new stretch of highway will tie in to the existing four-lane sections of US 35 and paving beneath the bridges on the route. Once finished later this fall, US 35 will be four lanes all the way from Interstate 64 near Teays Valley to the West Virginia-Ohio state line. ​​