page_title: Interstate 64 in West Virginia
section_title: Charleston east to Virginia
hierarchical_section_title: Interstate 64 in West Virginia / History / Charleston east to Virginia
caption_attribution_description: English: Interstate 64 at Sandstone Mountain in Raleigh County. This is a 7% grade.
context_page_description: Interstate 64 is an Interstate Highway in the U.S. state of West Virginia. It travels through the state for 184 miles passing by the major towns and cities of Huntington, Charleston, Beckley, and Lewisburg.
context_section_description: The alignment of Interstate 64 was to originally parallel US 60 from Charleston to the Virginia state line. This would go through environmentally sensitive areas such as Hawk's Nest and the New River Gorge area and might have disrupted the natural beauty and the isolation of the area.
  In 1969, Governor Arch Moore announced a delay in the construction of Interstate 64 east of Charleston. He concluded that a study needed to be done on whether the highway should run parallel to US 60 east of Charleston. On March 28, 1974, Governor Moore concluded that Interstate 64 would be routed from Sam Black Church almost due west to a junction with the West Virginia Turnpike (I-77) near Beckley, rather than following the U.S. 60 alignment as initially proposed. From that point, I-64 was concurrent with the northern portion of an upgraded West Virginia Turnpike to reach the Charleston area. This section of I-64 is the only portion of the highway which is a toll road.
  In 1971, Interstate 64 was completed from WV 12 (MP 161.46) to the Virginia state line at MP 184.02. This included six interchanges Exit 161 for WV 12, Exit 169 for US 219 and Lewisburg, Exit 175 for US 60 for White Sulphur Springs, Exit 181 for US 60 (WB only), and for WV 311 (EB only) at Exit 183. It was extended westward to Exit 156 (MP 155.98) at Sam Black Church in 1973.
  The final segment of Interstate 64 to be completed was between Sam Black Church and the West Virginia Turnpike near Beckley. This revised interstate alignment traverses through an entirely rural area with extremely rugged terrain. Opened in 1988, this final portion is 38 miles (61 km) long and cost approximately $300 million to construct, making it one of the most expensive segments of Interstate Highway in the United States at $7.8 million per mile. It has some extremely rugged terrain, with one segment boasting a 7% grade downhill eastbound for seven miles (11 km) at Sandstone Mountain. Anticipating loss of braking situations, two emergency truck escape ramps were built to be used by runaway trucks. These emergency ramps were used with such frequency that, in addition to large warning signs alerting truckers to the steep grade, a special truck speed advisory system was installed to automatically weigh each truck and indicate the speed at which it should begin the downhill section.
  Even with careful adherence to reduced speeds for truckers, the journey from Charleston to Lewisburg is far quicker and far safer on I-64 than the older routing via U.S. 60, much of which winds through the mountains as the Midland Trail, a two-lane scenic byway, passing through hamlets such as Rainelle and Ansted.
  Between milepost 129 and 133, also in Raleigh County, is the Phil G. McDonald Memorial Bridge, also known as the Glade Creek Bridge,  a 2,179-foot (664 m) long deck truss bridge towering 700 feet (210 m) above the creek bed.
  The New River crossing is at milepost 137 on the Mary Draper Ingles Bridge. The highway also traverses through a wildlife refuge and marsh near milepost 154.
caption: Interstate 64 at Sandstone Mountain in Raleigh County. This is a 7% grade.
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