| I-64 | |||
| Get started | Huntington | ||
| End | White Sulfur Springs | ||
| Length | 184 mi | ||
| Length | 296 km | ||
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Interstate 64 or I -64 is an Interstate Highway in the U.S. state of West Virginia. The highway forms an east-west connection in the state, running from the Kentucky border at Huntington through the state capital Charleston to the Virginia border at White Sulfur Springs. There is a long double-numbered Interstate 77 between Charleston and Beckley. This section is also a toll road, the West Virginia Turnpike. The route in West Virginia is 296 kilometers long.
- 800ZipCodes: Provides a list of all postal codes in the state of West Virginia, covering area code, zip code and map for each city within West Virginia.
Travel directions
The I-64 bridge over the Kanawha River in Charleston.
I-64/77 at Charleston.
I-64 just east of Beckley.
In hilly terrain, Interstate 64 in Kentucky crosses the border with West Virginiaabout, off Huntington town. Huntington has 49,000 inhabitants and is the second largest city in West Virginia. The terrain through which I-64 runs is quite hilly, and there are many works of art. Here one crosses US 52, which comes from Bluefield in the far south of the state. Also in West Virginia, US 60 runs parallel to I-64. West Virginia is quite wooded, and I-64 runs through wooded and hilly areas. After about 90 kilometers you reach the city of Charleston, the capital of West Virginia, which has a population of 53,000 and has a small conurbation. One crosses the Kanawha River here several times. It crosses US 119, a multi-lane highway that leads to Williamson in the southwest of the state. 2×3 lanes are available through downtown Charleston. Here adds theEnter Interstate 77, which comes from Cleveland. Both roads will be double numbered for the time being, over a length of 100 kilometers.
Charleston is sandwiched between the hills and the Kanawha River, and I-64 winds through it. After leaving the city of Charleston, the highway, now a toll road, follows the Kanawha River, which is continuously built on both sides with small towns. At Chelyan, you leave the course of the river and take I-64/I-77 south. The highway meanders through the mountainous area, and doesn’t have many exits. Moreover, it is the only road in the region. Crawl lanes are regularly present. You then reach Beckley, a regional town with 17,000 inhabitants, but the largest town after Charleston on the route in West Virginia. On the south side of Beckley, I-64 exits from I-77, which heads toward Charlotte in North Carolina.
Interstate 64 then runs east again, sometimes with high valley bridges. The route is scenic, passing through the mountains of the Allegheny Mountains, part of the Appalachian Mountains. There are no large towns on the route, just some hamlets. At White Sulfur Springs, I-64 crosses the Virginia border. Interstate 64 in Virginia continues toward Richmond and Norfolk.
- a2zDirectory: Lists popular attractions in West Virginia, including parks, festivals and holidays of West Virginia.
History
Western West Virginia
Construction of I-64 between the border with Kentuckyand Charleston started in 1957, and in 1960 the first section between Huntington and Ona was opened. In 1962 a longer stretch of 16 miles opened between Milton and the Kanawha River valley. In 1964, the eight-mile intermediate section opened, significantly completing I-64 between Huntington and Charleston. In 1965, the westernmost portion of the route opened from the Kentucky border to just beyond Huntington. In 1966, the bridge over the Kanawha River at Nitro opened to traffic. In 1967 the highway reached Dunbar, just west of Charleston. It was difficult to get a route around Charleston, the capital of West Virginia. This was because of the narrow valley in which the city is located. Construction began on the highway in eastern Charleston in 1971, this section being double-numbered with I-77. In 1974, I-64 opened in west Charleston, including a second bridge over the Kanawha River. In 1975, the highway joined I-77 in north Charleston. In 1976, the last link opened to the West Virginia Turnpike, completing the route through Charleston.
Between March 2013 and September 2014, a 6-kilometer stretch in Huntington was widened to 2×3 lanes between exits 11 and 15. Subsequently, between 2019 and 2022, a 5-kilometer stretch between Exit 15 and 18 at Barboursville was expanded from 2×2 to 2×4 lanes widened. A second bridge over the Kanawha River at Nitro was built between 2021 and 2024. This was part to widen I-64 between US 35 and Nitro. Construction of the second bridge began on April 7, 2021 and lasted until October 2024.
West Virginia Turnpike
Construction of the West Virginia Turnpike began in 1952, the state’s first high-quality route. the toll roadwas initially constructed with 1×2 lanes. The road follows a very winding route, the I-64 between Charleston and Beckley is part of the West Virginia Turnpike. In November 1954, the section over which I-64 runs was opened to traffic for 82 kilometers. With the growth of traffic in the 1960s and 1970s, the West Virginia Turnpike was no longer adequate. Road safety in particular was a major problem, with numerous collisions. In 1980, the first section of I-64 north of Beckley was widened to 2×2 lanes. Between 1981 and 1987, the route between Beckley and Charleston was widened to 2×2 lanes, the last stretch being widened just north of Beckley. However , the alignment has not been modernized, the highway is still extremely twisty and factualsubstandard.
Southeastern West Virginia
Originally it was planned to parallel I-64 to US 60 from Charleston to the Virginia borderto extend, so well north of Beckley. In 1969 it was decided to temporarily suspend construction of I-64 east of Charleston, and in 1974 it was decided that I-64 would start at Beckley, and thus between Charleston and Beckley over the then already existing West Virginia Turnpike to expire. Already in 1971 the first section opened in this region, between US 60 north of Alderson and the border with Virginia for 35 kilometers. From then on, there was a long missing link east of Beckley, only opening in 1988 a long 40-mile section between the West Virginia Turnpike at Beckley and US 60 north of Alderson. This was one of the most expensive highway projects in the United States at the time, costing $300 million, or well over $12 million per mile.
Traffic intensities
Some 27,000 vehicles cross the Kentucky border every day, rising to 52,000 in Huntsville and up to 82,500 at Charleston. The toll road section to Beckley has about 30,000 vehicles per day, and the section from Beckley to the Virginia border is about 14,000 vehicles.
Lane Configuration
| From | Unpleasant | Lanes | Comments |
| exit 0 | Exit 11 | 2×2 | |
| Exit 11 | Exit 15 | 2×3 | |
| Exit 15 | Exit 44 | 2×2 | |
| Exit 44 | Exit 97 | 2×3 | Exit 97 from I-77 |
| Exit 97 | Exit 183 | 2×2 |
