CHARLES TOWN, W.Va.—
The opening of the new four-lane route for W.Va. 9 from Charles Town to the Virginia state line is slated for Wednesday after the high winds and heavy rainfall from Superstorm Sandy delayed the highway’s completion. J. Lee Thorne, District 5 engineer/manager for the West Virginia Division of Highways, said Friday that a ceremony for the opening is planned for Wednesday at 11 a.m.
Highway officials had hoped to open the road by mid-October, but the contractor needed more time to complete the work.
The project included construction of a 1,650-foot-long, four-lane bridge about 200 feet above the Shenandoah River.
East of the bridge, the new W.Va. 9 eventually narrows to two lanes to tie into Va. 9 at the Loudoun County, Va., line. It continues as a two-lane road until it connects with the four-lane Va. 7.
The project’s completion comes 10 years after construction was halted by lawsuits.
Construction on the approximately five-mile section of W.Va. 9 was halted in 2002 after several groups and individuals filed lawsuits opposing the project.
Opponents had claimed in federal court that highway officials did not obtain a necessary permit to build a bridge over the Shenandoah River, and that the government failed to examine ways the existing two-lane road could be made safer and affect fewer historic properties.
The lawsuits did not delay construction of the new four-lane divided highway from the Charles Town Bypass to Martinsburg, W.Va., which opened in 2010.
The heavily traveled two-lane road between the Virginia state line and Berkeley Springs in Morgan County, W.Va., was built as a rural collector road around 1930, state officials said.
