SOUTH CHARLESTON, WV (WOWK) – Drivers are celebrating the opening of a new road in South Charleston connecting Trace Fork Shopping Center to Jefferson Road.

RHL Boulevard opened at 1 p.m. Monday afternoon after Governor Jim Justice cut a ribbon at the road. It opened to the public immediately afterwards.

Shoppers like Jeff Stoker says this is something they have been waiting a long time for.

“Took the grandkids here to Target a couple years ago. Got stuck for an hour and a half, and we live ten minutes away,” Stoker said. “I hope nope not to be stuck in traffic for an hour and a half.”

The road is half a mile long. It is a part of the Jefferson Road Improvement Project, a plan to reduce traffic jams and congestion in Charleston.

The project is 35% completed as of now. When it is finished by this time next year, Jefferson Road will be expanded to five lanes, and there will be a new roundabout at Kanawha Turnpike and a new overpass bridge. It will cost 47 million dollars.