I-77 East River Mountain Tunnel celebrates 50th anniversary

BRISTOL, Va. – On December 20, 1974, approximately 500 people gathered in the frigid cold at I-77 East River Mountain Tunnel to celebrate the opening of the tunnel and a transportation milestone for the region.

Construction of the mile-long tunnel took five years, four months and 13 days. The prime contractors on the project were Gordon H. Ball Inc., Danville, Calif., and S.A. Healy Co., McCook, Ill.

The total project cost, including design, right-of-way acquisition, construction of the tunnels, portal buildings, electrical systems and ventilation systems was $37 million.

Twenty miles south and two years earlier on June 29, 1972, a similar size crowd celebrated the opening of 11.4 miles of I-77 between Wytheville and Bland and the opening of Big Walker Mountain Tunnel.

“Each I-77 mountain tunnel took about five years to construct and were some of the largest highway construction contracts awarded by the state in the late 1960s,” VDOT Bristol District Engineer Tabitha Crowder, P.E., said. “The opening of East River Mountain Tunnel cut the drive between the West Virginia state line and Wytheville by half.”

East River Mountain Tunnel is 5,654 feet long. The tunnel is located 54% in Virginia and 46% in West Virginia. The tunnel is jointly owned and financed by Virginia and West Virginia. West Virginia oversaw the tunnel construction and Virginia oversees the day-to-day operations.

In 2024, a project to replace lighting in the northeast quadrant of the tunnel began. The lighting was damaged during a tractor-trailer fire inside the tunnel Summer 2014. Work is anticipated to wrap up in Spring 2025. The project is funded through VDOT’s Special Structures Program and is valued at $3.7 million.

 A second VDOT Special Structures funded project, valued at $6 million, is currently being designed and will automate many of the processes currently performed manually in the tunnel. The installation of a modern system will allow tunnel staff to focus on first responders’ duties and will greatly minimize human error during an emergency.

Approximately 11.3 million vehicles drive through East River Mountain Tunnel annually.

Interstate 77 provides a vital north-south transportation link, connecting the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean.