The Coalfields Expressway will be a four-lane highway totaling 116 miles in length, with 51 miles running in southwestern Virginia and 65 in West Virginia. The Expressway will provide a direct link from Interstates 64 and 77 through the heart of southern Appalachia. The Expressway has been designated as U.S. Route 121, and will run along the Virginia Route 83 corridor, from US 23 in Wise County, through Dickenson County, into Buchanan County crossing US 460, to Slate near the West Virginia border, then following along West Virginia Routes 83 and 16 through McDowell and Wyoming Counties, ending at Interstates 77 and 64 near Beckley.
Under the authority of Virginia's Public-Private Transportation Act (VPPTA), the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) entered into an agreement with Kellogg, Brown & Root (KBR) to design and build the Virginia portion of the Coalfields Expressway. The VDOT later awarded a $30.6 million contract to KBR to perform the preliminary engineering for an initial segment of the Expressway, which includes environmental analysis, geotechnical testing, roadway design, and right-of-way acquisition plans.
The VDOT originally estimated the roadway to cost $1.6 billion. Thus far, the Congress has funneled $72.7 million in Federal dollars into the project.