CHARLESTON — “What you see here today is a tremendous achievement,” West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice said Thursday, while standing on U.S. 35 in Putnam County.

That area was part of the final 14.6-mile leg of the roadway, a project five decades in the making, according to a release from the Governor’s Office.

With the final piece now completed, Gov. Justice, other state officials, members of West Virginia’s congressional delegation and others attended a grand opening ceremony for the highway Thursday.

“I thank everybody that put into licks to make this a reality, to make all this goodness happen,” Justice said.

Completion of the project will now allow travelers to utilize a safe highway to accommodate increased traffic demands in the area, according to the release.

Motorists will be able to drive on smooth, four-lane pavement for 37 consecutive miles, beginning at the Interstate 64 exit at Scott Depot and continuing straight through to Point Pleasant and the Ohio state line, heading toward Columbus.

The ceremony included a ribbon cutting, comments from a variety of dignitaries and a parade of vehicles led down the highway by the governor.

It also featured musical performances by General Admission, the Winfield High School Show Choir; the Black Knight Marching Band from Point Pleasant High School; and the Marching Generals from Winfield High School.

Jimmy Wriston, secretary of the West Virginia Department of Transportation, lauded the project’s completion as being beneficial not only to the immediate area, but for the state as a whole.

“This is not only a great day for Putnam County and for Mason County, this is a great day for all of West Virginia,” Wriston said. “This will be a safe, modern highway. It’ll protect lives.

“My favorite saying that the governor has is, ‘you have to know the difference between effort and achievement,’” Wriston continued. “Well, today is a great achievement. Fifty-three years in the making. Nine governors presided over this project. Governor Justice’s great vision — the Roads to Prosperity program — got it done. Today, we have an achievement.”

Planning for the project began in 1968, following the collapse of the Silver Bridge in Point Pleasant.

Completion of the project was made possible in part through the governor’s $2.8 billion Roads to Prosperity highway construction and maintenance program, which provides state funding for major roadway projects throughout the state.

Gov. Justice noted that the completion of U.S. 35 marks a milestone as the 1,000th project to have been completed through the Roads to Prosperity program.

In terms of dollar value, the $257 million U.S. 35 project is the largest single-contract Roads to Prosperity project in the entire program. The project was funded through a combination of state and federal dollars.

Congressional representatives in attendance at Thursday’s event were U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and U.S. Rep. Carol Miller, R-W.Va.

“What a great day. To say I’m elated is a total understatement,” Capito said. “I want to thank you, Gov. Justice, and your Transportation Secretary, Jimmy Wriston, for the hard work, for the dedication. Obviously, Roads to Prosperity is working. We see it here today, and we’re extremely grateful. It’s exciting to think about the safety. It’s exciting to think about the ease of transportation and the ease of moving cargo. ... This is a major, major thoroughfare, and I’m very excited.”

“When I was governor ... we started working. All but 15 miles were completed by 2010. This was a tough one. But we worked and worked and worked, and committed ourselves to getting this done, and Governor [Justice], making that commitment, it takes all of us working together to put the commitment to making this final product,” Manchin said. “Congratulations to all of those who have been so involved in making this day happen. We know we have a lot of accidents here. It’s going to save a lot of people’s lives. And I’m so grateful.”

“It’s such an honor to be able to see this road that is so well-traveled become safer and better to drive,” Miller said. “You all who live here know the accidents that we’ve had for many, many years, and I think this is going to cut those way, way down. .... I want to thank our great governor, Jim Justice, for making the completion of U.S. 35 possible. With his $2.8 billion Roads to Prosperity bond, he got it done. He worked hard to get it done, and I’m so proud that he had the vision to push through.”

The southbound lanes of the new road were officially open as of Thursday, with the northbound lanes to follow next week.

Taking place on Nov. 11, the event also doubled as a Veterans Day celebration, with attendees honoring those who currently serve or have served in the U.S. military.

“First and foremost, we should absolutely salute and be so appreciative of the fact that it’s Veterans Day,” Justice said. “I say it all the time, our veterans have given us every single thing that we have in this life, and too often we take it for granted. They have given so much, and asked for so little, it’s unbelievable. So today, we thank and we honor our veterans.”

West Virginia Department of Veterans Assistance Secretary Ted Diaz, a veteran himself, spoke to the patriotism of West Virginia, noting the high rate of military service.

“West Virginia is the most patriotic state in the nation,” Diaz said. “West Virginians have always been there when our country is called. Roughly one in 10 adults in our state is a veteran. This is much higher than the national average. Myself, and more than 144,000 of my brother and sister veterans call this state our home.

“For their service and sacrifice throughout the years, we owe our veterans and their families our unwavering respect and our gratitude.”