With no east–west US Highway in the region, WV 9 acts as the major east–west transportation artery between Morgan, Berkeley, and Jefferson counties.

In April 2009, a short 1.3-mile (2.1 km) section of the new WV 9 was opened from the Eastern Regional Jail to the Opequon Creek bridge.

A four-mile (6.4 km) section of WV 9 from the Eastern Regional Jail to Short Road was completed at the end of 2009.

The bypass carries WV 9 away from its previous winding route across the Shenandoah River and the Blue Ridge.

[2] In April 2008, a section of the road, which passes by his Gap View Farm home, was named and dedicated in Frank Buckles's honor by then-West Virginia Governor Joe Manchin.