CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- The new 9-mile stretch of U.S. 35 through Putnam County is scheduled to open Monday.

Officials with the West Virginia Division of Highways said the new four-lane road should be open to travels sometime Monday afternoon.

Officials could not give an exact time, saying it depends on how long it takes crews to clear any leftover debris or traffic barriers left on the road.

The new portion of U.S. 35 will connect Interstate 64 at the Crooked Creek exit to the Buffalo Bridge.

The new U.S. 35 will pull the majority of the heavy truck and trailer traffic off the old U.S. 35, through Winfield and Fraziers Bottom, leaving the old U.S. 35 -- which will be renamed U.S. 817 -- for local traffic.

In October, the state opened about a 3-mile stretch of the new U.S. 35 at the Crooked Creek exit.

Construction on the new U.S. 35 started in 2004. The 12-mile stretch of roadway is part of a larger project to build 34 miles of road connecting Henderson, Mason County, to I-64, providing a direct link to Columbus, Ohio.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- The new 9-mile stretch of U.S. 35 through Putnam County is scheduled to open Monday.

Officials with the West Virginia Division of Highways said the new four-lane road should be open to travels sometime Monday afternoon.

Officials could not give an exact time, saying it depends on how long it takes crews to clear any leftover debris or traffic barriers left on the road.

The new portion of U.S. 35 will connect Interstate 64 at the Crooked Creek exit to the Buffalo Bridge.

The new U.S. 35 will pull the majority of the heavy truck and trailer traffic off the old U.S. 35, through Winfield and Fraziers Bottom, leaving the old U.S. 35 -- which will be renamed U.S. 817 -- for local traffic.

In October, the state opened about a 3-mile stretch of the new U.S. 35 at the Crooked Creek exit.

Construction on the new U.S. 35 started in 2004. The 12-mile stretch of roadway is part of a larger project to build 34 miles of road connecting Henderson, Mason County, to I-64, providing a direct link to Columbus, Ohio.

The state has not secured funding for the last 13 miles of the new U.S. 35, between the Buffalo Bridge and County Route 40. The remaining road is projected to cost about $250 million.

As of 2008, the DOT had invested about $453 million in the new corridor.

The DOT and Gov. Joe Manchin's office have discussed charging tolls on the new U.S. 35 between Winfield and the Ohio River to fund construction and help fund future projects in the state.

"After looking at a full range of possibilities, the WVDOH has determined that, in order to complete the 13-mile section between the Buffalo Bridge in Putnam County and County Route 40 in Mason County, tolling of the U.S. 35 Corridor may be the only viable option that will allow the project to be completed in the near future," Secretary of Transportation Paul Mattox said in a prepared statement.

Putnam County commissioners have said a toll is the last thing they want to see, but something the county may need to consider if funding cannot be secured in a timely manner.

Public meetings will be scheduled later this summer to discuss potential tolling options.

When complete, the 34-mile stretch of the new U.S. 35 from Henderson in Mason County to Interstate 64 at the Crooked Creek exit is estimated to cost about $703 million, according to the DOH.

The current two-lane U.S. 35 is one of the most dangerous in the state. The highway is a throughway for freight trucks. Its straight, flat stretches encourage speeding, and with only two lanes, the route is too narrow to handle the heavy tractor-trailer traffic.