The westbound commute on Interstate 64 around Charleston is looking to get a lot easier on Monday.
The Division of Highways has announced that it will begin shifting the westbound lane back to its original traffic configuration starting today as concrete work on the seven-month project nears its end.
"Unfortunately, we are going to have to shut down the I-64 westbound Oakwood offramp," said Carrie Bly, the communications specialist for the West Virginia Department of Transportation. "And that's because when we're trying to put things back in place, we don't want traffic going over that way."
On Monday, the westbound side will go back to normal, with the exception of the Lee Street on-ramp, where Highways workers still are doing work on expansion joints. That work is going to affect traffic toward the end of town, from the split to Leon Sullivan Way.
The expansion joint work will last until it gets too cold in the winter, and will pick up again in the spring.
Next week, the DOH will remove the restrictions on the eastbound lanes. The goal is to have the Oakwood ramp reopened by Nov. 9.
The work on the highway has been going on since April. Workers with the Division of Highways removed the old bridge deck, replaced an electrical system that protects the bridge and are putting down a new deck.
Originally, the goal was to have the bridge deck done by Wednesday, but weather, equipment and vehicles getting stuck in the contraflow lane set the workers back.
"The big reason was the rain," Bly said. "Because pouring concrete and rain don't mix, so that put us behind."
The cleanup date isn't guaranteed, but DOH officials are hopeful.
"We have to have a goal," Bly said. "And we wanted to share that with people, to give them this glimmer of hope that it's almost over and that we appreciate their patience."