The West Virginia Legislature approved the parkway in 1985, and plans for its route were proposed in 1991.

The route between Hinton and Sandstone was finalized in 1998, but a controversy of the buying of land for the highway stalled its construction.

Three segments of the route have been planned, running for a combined 10 miles (16 km) along the New River in Summers and Raleigh Counties.

[4] The plans became contentious, however, when local residents learned that all private property between the route and the river would be claimed for the parkway by eminent domain.

The initial section is being built by Triton Construction of Nitro and is expected to cost $11.32 million.