HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) – While Interstate 64 is ever evolving in our region, it marks its 50th anniversary this week.

Motorists take heed: the construction project over Hal Greer Boulevard at Exit 11 is changing Thursday. The construction project manager advises drivers to pay close attention and to expect some delays.

Weather permitting, the new overpass on the westbound side will be open for the first time Thursday It is part of the ongoing effort to widen I-64 in both directions. The eastbound lanes toward Charleston will shut down, and that overpass will be demolished after the Labor Day weekend.

Meanwhile, it was 50 years ago this week that groundbreaking started in Cabell County to build the interstate. Lessie Moses remembers it like it was yesterday. The interstate swallowed up 15 acres of her family farm because of right-of-way issues. Her parents' home had to be moved up the street.

Fifty years and millions of cars later, Moses said the interstate system makes everything closer, quicker and has changed lives forever.

When I-64 was built locally, the price tag of construction from the Kentucky line to Charleston was more than $150 million. The first segment to be opened to traffic in October 1961 was 5.6 miles from Huntington's 29th Street interchange to the interchange that is now near the Huntington Mall.