PUTNAM COUNTY, W.Va. (WSAZ) -- After years of planning, the first phase of the U.S. Route 35 upgrade is ready for traffic.

Officials cut the ribbon Friday afternoon. When it's finished, the four-lane highway will stretch 35 miles from Crooked Creek in Putnam County to Point Pleasant in Mason County. Upgrading Route 35 to four lanes has been on the drawing board for decades.

The road is a popular highway for tractor-trailers traveling between West Virginia and Ohio. It has been the site of several accidents.

FOLLOWING IS A PRESS RELEASE FROM THE OFFICE OF UNITED STATES SENATOR ROBERT BYRD:

Putnam County, West Virginia – United States Senator Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va., was the keynote speaker this afternoon at ribbon-cutting ceremonies marking the opening of 2.1 miles of new upgrades to U.S. Route 35 in Putnam County. The new portion of the roadway stretches from I-64 to WV Route 34.

Byrd, in his capacity as Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, and West Virginia’s leading advocate for creating a 21st century highway and infrastructure system throughout the state, has helped to secure more than $100 million in federal funding over the years to upgrade the two-lane roadway to a four-lane limited access highway.

The heavily traveled West Virginia portion of U.S. Route 35 runs from the Ohio River east through Mason, Putnam, and Kanawha Counties and connects with Interstate 64 in Charleston. The roadway serves as a vital commercial thoroughfare, with trucks using the road as part of their route through Charleston and onto Cincinnati, Dayton, and Columbus, Ohio and beyond.

Byrd’s remarks at the dedication ceremony follow:

“What a great day for West Virginia! What a great day for the people of Putnam County! Today, we are celebrating the opening of an important and much needed section of U.S. Route 35, and I am glad to be here to help you do it!”

“I have always been an advocate of better roads and highways, not only for West Virginia but for our entire country. In fact, in one of my very first speeches in the United States Senate, I spoke of ‘the immeasurable gains which derive from a good highway system.’ That was on August 26, 1959. That was a few years before some of you were even born!”

“In that speech 49 years ago, I pointed to the economic benefits, as well as to the improved safety factors that come from newer and better highways. I pointed out that, ‘America’s progress has been built on our superb highways system.’”

“It has never been easy to secure federal funds for the building of highways in West Virginia. Our beautiful mountains that we love so much also make it costly and difficult to build modern highways. Furthermore, a lot of people, in our Nation’s Capital, do not understand why West Virginia needs better highways. They just don’t get it. Time and again, I have had to fight the Bush Administration and its supporters in the Congress to ensure that West Virginia is not left out when it comes to safer roads and bridges.”

“That is why I have had to rely on earmarks to acquire the necessary federal money to build West Virginia roads. Formulas just don’t get it when it comes to people’s safety. I know there is a presidential candidate who cries and moans about congressional earmarks. He whines that earmarks are an abuse of federal funds. He comes from a state that is 85% owned by the Federal government, so he doesn’t need to ask for earmarks. He doesn’t come from a state where it costs on average $25 million per mile to build roads, and he doesn’t understand that the world is simply not flat!”

“But I am here to tell you that earmarks can, and often do, serve an important purpose – and this is one of them! If it were not for Congressional earmarks, this section of Route 35 would never have been completed! An earmark kicked off the mapping of the human genome project which has unlocked the door to many advances in medicine and combating dread diseases. Earmarks account for less than 1% of the Federal budget.”

“I would be remiss if I did not recognize the contributions of my former congressional colleague, Bob Wise. He added a total of $50.5 million in three separate measures for this important project. It was in the early 1990s that then-Congressman Wise recognized the specific challenges of traveling Route 35.”

“I supported his efforts at that time, and I am proud to have secured funds through the Senate Appropriations process and to have protected funds included by the House of Representatives that totaled more than $128 million for the construction of U.S. Route 35.”

“I am delighted to be here with you today to help celebrate the opening of this important and much needed section of U.S. Route 35. You can bet that I will continue to push hard in the U.S. Senate, and use my experience, and earmarks, when necessary, to build for the future of the people of this great State of West Virginia.”