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WV: West Virginia Turnpike news and developments

Started by seicer, January 30, 2009, 07:45:59 AM

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seicer

Turnpike tour intended to show 88-mile road in desperate need of repair
By Jake Stump, Daily Mail, January 28, 2009

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Deteriorating bridges, rusted guardrails and ramshackle salt sheds are just a few of the problems plaguing the West Virginia Turnpike.

Officials with the Turnpike painted a not-so-rosy picture of an 88-mile toll road in desperate need of repair during a tour given to news media.

The objective of the tour: To garner support for a much talked about toll increase that would free up money for maintenance and repairs from Charleston to Princeton.

The first stop of Wednesday's tour was at Fields Creek Bridge, at milepost 86, heading south on Interstate 77.

Underneath the bridge, consulting engineer Randy Epperly pointed out several flaws in the structure that would only worsen over time.

All but one bridge pier appeared cracked and withered. The good pier cost about $175,000 to repair, Epperly said.

Epperly explained that a crack in a bridge actually goes all the way through the structure to the bottom.

"This is a typical bridge," Epperly said. "It's not even the worst."

Though in rugged shape, Epperly said the bridge wasn't in danger of collapsing.

Yet repairing the bridge now was crucial.

"If you can't do preventative maintenance, you'll spend more and more time and money to repair them in the future," he said. "It's just trying to get ahead of the game and not spending as much money."

A recent Turnpike report estimates that $238 million will be needed over the next five years for capital and replacement needs. Only $60 million is currently projected to be available to the Turnpike within that timeframe, leaving $178 million in deferred projects.

Turnpike officials are also expecting a further decline in tolls due to gasoline prices and the economic recession.

To offset such losses, officials believe a toll hike is necessary.

Current tolls are $1.25 for passenger vehicles. The Turnpike has three toll booths - at Chelyan, Pax and Ghent.

Other officials accompanying television, radio and newspaper crews on Wednesday's tour included Turnpike General Manager Gregg Barr and Director of Maintenance Engineering Ron Hamilton.

"If we don't start repairing, we will soon be replacing," Barr said.

Several lawmakers are balking at a proposed hike. Senate Majority Leader Truman Chafin, D-Mingo, has even gone as far as to declare he'd introduce legislation doing way with tolls altogether if a toll increase is proposed. Chafin told the Bluefield Daily Telegraph this week he would move the Turnpike into the Interstate system.

Other legislators dubbed the Turnpike's media tours as "propaganda."

At another stop between Charleston and Beckley, Epperly showed reporters a broken-down woodshed used to house road salt.

He pointed out cables that are used to actually keep the walls from falling apart.

"It's a safety issue," Epperly said. "You wouldn't want to be in here and accidentally hit the walls. They'd come crumbling down."

The tour was split into two days. For the first day, reporters traveled from Charleston to Beckley. Journalists will travel in the Princeton/Beckley area of the Turnpike today for the second part.

Officials say they don't have details yet about just how much tolls could increase. But they're telling Turnpike travelers not to panic.

Barr said a series of public hearings would have to take place before the implementation of a hike.
The Turnpike, however, has struggled in recent years to increase its tolls. In January 2006, the authority raised tolls to $2, but a judge overturned it a month later.


Voyager

Yikes, things like this on our highways are what really scare me sometimes.
Back From The Dead | AARoads Forum Original

John

Damn that's bad. Sadly, a lot of the country's infrastructure is crumbling. Besides the new interstates, which are just taking over US routes' routes, most of the country's roads haven't been a focus in 50 years. I seriously hope we get that infrastructure package.
They came, they went, they took my image...

seicer

It's still a tolled highway that relies on no outside help. Tolls have not been raised since 1981 -- the longest span for ANY tolled facility in the United States. The last toll hike that was attempted as railed down not long after it was implemented -- and it was just a marginal increase to cover some of the deferred maintenance costs.

The Tamarack is a showcase and destination constructed by the West Virginia parkways and tourism Authority (there are three organizations lumped into one brand, thus tolled money gets diverted elsewhere)... and it's been a drain due to its construction bonds not being paid off.

Tamarack remains in limbo
Parkways members unhappy with progress of takeover
By Mannix Porterfield, Register-Herald, January 30, 2009

Almost two years have lapsed since Gov. Joe Manchin ordered the West Virginia Parkways Authority to limit its scope to keeping the turnpike road-worthy, and one immediate goal was to ship Tamarack to the Department of Commerce.

But the Beckley artisans center is still in the hands of the authority.

Authority members appear to be growing a little impatient with the lack of progress, and one of them, Victor Grigoraci, stepped up his demand Friday that the authority get something in return for the facility and apply any proceeds to shoring up the crumbling turnpike.

"I'm reluctant to just keep giving it away without being paid for what we have invested,"  he told fellow members at a combined meeting of its committees.

"We shouldn't just sit on the sidelines and do nothing."

Turnpike manager Greg Barr said nothing concrete can occur until the remaining $7 million in Tamarack bonds is satisfied.

"Definitely, it won't be just dropped on them,"  he said of the Commerce Department.

By law, Tamarack gets no money from toll collections, but the authority has been pumping some $2 million into the facility every year of its operations from concessions. The authority has been dedicating $1 million annually toward the outstanding bonds.

A new wrinkle was injected into Tamarack when its general manager, Cheryl Hartley, disclosed a proposal by the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame to partner with it for events.

"We're still pretty much tied to the road,"  Hartley said. "If we get people here, they will eat, they will buy."

By linking up with the Music Hall of Fame, she said, with a permanent exhibits and musical events, even more people could be drawn to Tamarack.

Members of the economic development and tourism committee agreed to let Hartley pursue a possible partnership with the hall, although that must be agreed on by the full authority at next week's meeting.

Barr agreed to call on Manchin and his staff to see what progress is being made to get Tamarack out of the authority's sphere of responsibility.

Tamarack came under fire a year ago by the legislative auditor's office over the annual reliance on turnpike concessions to stay afloat.

Barr, however, suggested the facility has been an integral part of the economic boom that has occurred in recent years in the Beckley area.

"Before it opened,"  he told the committees, "there was hardly anything on Harper Road."

seicer

^ Posted another article above.

Bonds could keep toll increase lower
By Mannix Porterfield, Register-Herald, January 30, 2009

Fresh bonds to finance needed repairs could lessen the sting motorists may feel when an inevitable toll increase arrives on the West Virginia Turnpike, its governing agency learned Friday.

But the matter of allowing new bonds to be issued now rests with the Legislature, the result of a law that grew out of a public outcry three years ago when the state Parkways Authority, without notice, suddenly imposed the first toll increase since 1981, a move that was later overturned in court.

Disrepair is evident from one end to the other of the 88-mile toll road – and repairs aren't cheap.

For instance, in a mile-long stretch just south of Beckley, a new crop of potholes, some 180 in all, will require as much as $3 million to repair, but it might before the spring thaw before this task is tackled.

Bond counsel Roger Hunter likened the concept of assuming more indebtedness to that of a homeowner facing a leaky roof.

One can apply stopgap measures such as tar on a pay-as-you-go basis or take out a loan to install a new roof that lasts for years and avoid the need to shell out money on a recurring basis, he explained.

Not only would fewer dollars be invested in the long-term approach, but motorists wouldn't be hit with as dramatic a toll increase when the inevitable day arrives to ask for one, Hunter explained.

Turnpike manager Greg Barr said the bonding option is among the information that will be contained when new studies are performed, leading up to the formal move to approve the first toll increase in 28 years.

"As part of our studies, they will look at those options when we go to public hearings,"  Barr said.

"It's important that the public sees what it will cost without bonding and what it will cost with bonding. That will get the public comment. How does the public feel about that? If the public feels there should be bonding, maybe that has an impact on legislators."

Lawmakers have no say in what fares are charged, but have enacted a law that requires their approval in any bonding issues sought by the turnpike's board.

Meantime, the authority's chairman, Joe Martin, is leaving his post as Gov. Joe Manchin's deputy chief of staff as of today, ending more than three decades of public service.

Not only does Manchin have Martin's shoes to fill on the Parkways Authority, he also is in the market for a successor to longtime member Alan Susman.

Susman stepped down this month after serving on the turnpike's governing agency 28 years.

Gubernatorial spokesman Matt Turner said he expects Manchin to fill both slots on the authority next week.

seicer

^ Two articles posted above. It's sad that politics has to be involved in every minor detail -- such as toll increases for a turnpike that has not seen any since 1981. Because... you know, politicians know best!

Turnpike board fires back after senators' comments
By Mannix Porterfield, Register-Herald, January 30, 2009

BECKLEY – Two Senate leaders vowing to resist an anticipated toll increase on the West Virginia Turnpike came under fire Friday by members of its governing board at a combined meeting of its committees in Beckley.

"They're pandering to voters, there's no question,"  member Bill Seaver, of Princeton, said of Senate Majority Leader Truman Chafin, D-Mingo, and Minority Leader Don Caruth, R-Mercer.

"They're playing politics."

Turnpike Manager Greg Barr pointed to an elaborate outline of the toll road's current and future needs, along with financial standing and history, on its Web site, available for public perusal.

The information reflects that distributed to news reporters this week in a two-day tour covering the Princeton-to-Charleston highway to demonstrate the crumbling and general disrepair of the Turnpike, erected in 1954 before Interstate highways were laid.

Barr agreed that the parkways authority should sit down with southern lawmakers, and anyone else in the Legislature, for that matter, to discuss the road's needs and financial options.

Lawmakers sought three years ago during an uproar over a short-lived toll increase to assume veto power over any future fare raises but Gov. Joe Manchin vetoed that in deference to bond market issues and requirements to maintain the road at a certain level to satisfy the bond holders.

"But the Legislature can do, and has done other, things like taking away our bonding authority, requiring discounts, and things like that,"  the manager said.

Barr advised the board he would attempt to arrange a meeting with Manchin's legislative liaison to set up a session with any interested lawmakers.

Seaver and others appeared miffed at Chafin and Caruth for telling The Bluefield Daily Telegraph they oppose any rate increase and would strive to defeat it, without offering an alternative means to raise money for maintenance.

An effort to raise tolls is coming at a time the Turnpike faces a $4 million loss in income within a year.

Just this past week, the Turnpike closed off more than one mile of a southbound lane two miles below Beckley when 180 fresh potholes appeared, making travel there treacherous. Maintenance director Ron Hamilton advised the committees it could take between $1.3 million and $3 million to restore that small stretch alone.

Overall, reporters saw up close a road that is rapidly falling apart – cracks in pavement, bridges with breaks in their decks, culverts shored up with braces, salt sheds on the verge of collapse, and guardrails sheathed in so much rust it is doubtful they could work for their purpose.

"All the evidence is there that it has to be done,"  Seaver said of the restoration and maintenance. "This road is going to deteriorate.

"And for them (Chafin and Caruth) to brush it off with one quick comment and say they're going to legislate against it ... I'm anxious to see their solution. I'm very upset that they would just give an answer in that fashion, just right off the cuff."

Finance chairman Cam Lewis suggested the two legislators are behind the times in their disdain of toll roads.

"Some day they're going to see this is the future,"  Lewis said.

"And they're going to see a lot more tolls on roads. They'd better get used to it."

seicer

^ More articles above.

Tour offers glimpse into turnpike deterioration
By Bill Archer, Bluefield Daily Telegraph, January 30, 2009

CAMP CREEK – From a purely cosmetic standpoint, the West Virginia Turnpike looks like a pretty decent highway, but looks can be deceiving.

The 60-plus year old highway's soft underbelly is crumbling, and turnpike maintenance supervisory personnel are worried enough about the shape of things to come, that they spent a couple of days making their case for a toll hike to a few members of the southern West Virginia press corps.

"We have bad roads and no money to fix the portion of the roads that need fixed,"  Ron Hamilton, director of maintenance and engineering of the West Virginia Parkways Authority said. The West Virginia Turnpike receives no federal or state funding and the economic downturn during the past few months has had a pronounced impact on any kind of restoration project the authority might want to tackle.

"You need to ask Greg Barr how many people from Mercer County work for the Parkways Authority,"  Mike Vinciguerra said. Vinciguerra is a member of the authority and Barr is the authority's executive director. "With 76 percent of the people using the turnpike from out of state and only about 5 percent who use it from Mercer County, I think we get a good return from our investment.

"It's easy to say: "Do away with the tolls,' but you have to ask yourself, what are we going to do with all of these people who work here if we just do away with the tolls,"  Vinciguerra said. "A lot of families in Mercer County would suffer."

Barr welcomed the media representatives for the final day of a two-day tour of the pike and all its challenges. "This highway is vital to southern West Virginia,"  Barr said. "We have to keep it safe and we have to keep it well maintained."

Barr, Hamilton and Randolph "Randy"  Epperly, associate vice president of HNTB Corp., consulting engineers on the turnpike, said a word about tolls. Instead, they focused on pointing out the many maintenance challenges authority personnel face. After a short briefing at the Turnpike Welcome Center in Princeton, the caravan of vehicles drove less than a mile to a wooden salt shed – one of five along the 88-mile length of the turnpike. Crews that expanded the turnpike to four lanes in the late 1970s, cut the log posts that form the walls of the salt sheds from the highway right-of-way, and built the salt sheds.

"This will cost us about $400,000 to replace,"  Hamilton said as he and Epperly pointed to the rotting walls and bulging support poles. "We have about a $230 million backlog of needs."

The authority's needs didn't just appear over night, but as with any on-going maintenance effort, developing needs have to be merged with needs that inch closer to the front burner with each new day. The authority has instituted scores of cost-cutting measures – including investing $422,000 in a joint project with West Virginia American Water to bring public drinking water to the Bluestone Travel Plaza, and remove the on-site water treatment plant as well as the aging storage tanks.

"Beautiful, aren't they?"  Epperly said as he pointed out to the dual span, C.H. Charlton Bridge complex across Bluestone Gorge. "It will cost us about $5 million per bridge for a new paint job. Beautiful bridges ... beautiful setting ... hard to keep maintained."

With each stop, Epperly and Hamilton distributed photographs to the media showing the crumbling infrastructure beneath the highway that is effectively masked in the summer by the well-maintained non-asphalt of the right-of-way.

"We spent $400,000 spot painting this bridge last year,"  Hamilton said as he pointed out the peeling paint in close-up scenes of the Charlton Bridge support structure.

"You can't do everything that needs done,"  Epperly said.

The traveling group went north to Beckley for a lunch at Tamarack, and a return trip on the southbound lanes. There was a lot to see long every mile of the aging turnpike.

seicer

Future of Tamarack, tolls
Manchin needs "just a little bit of time"  to finalize plans
By Charles Owens, Bluefield Daily Telegraph, February 18, 2009

BLUEFIELD – Gov. Joe Manchin is working on a new plan for the future of Tamarack.

Manchin, who more than three years ago ordered the West Virginia Parkways Economic Development and Tourism Authority to transfer the ownership of the Raleigh County-based Tamarack to the Department of Commerce, admits the long-planned transfer has yet to occur. The governor says officials are now working on a new idea for Tamarack.

"We think that we've got a good plan for Tamarack,"  Manchin, who met Tuesday with members of the Daily Telegraph's editorial board, said. "There are a lot of opportunities there, and the ability to keep the mission of our artisans."

Manchin ordered the Parkways Authority two years ago to return to its original mission of upkeeping the 88-mile West Virginia Turnpike from Princeton to Charleston. At the time, Manchin argued the authority's core and principal mission was the operation and maintenance of the turnpike. In addition to eliminating all economic development and tourism projects from among the authority's activities, Manchin also mandated moving Tamarack from the Parkways Authority to the Department of Commerce.

When asked if Commerce Secretary Kelly Goes is now ready to take over Tamarack, Manchin said state officials are working on a new plan that he is not yet ready to make public. However, he said the details of the plan will be made public soon, and asked the Daily Telegraph for "just a little bit of time"  to finalize the details.

Manchin also was asked about comments made by several southern West Virginia lawmakers, including Senate Majority Leader H. Truman Chafin, who proposed legislation doing away with tolls on the West Virginia Turnpike, and returning the 88-mile turnpike back to the state's interstate highway system, if another toll increase is proposed.

Manchin said the state has a bond debt that has to be paid, and a responsibility to keep the turnpike up to certain standards. Manchin said the state also has a responsibility to ensure that the turnpike is safe.

Manchin said he didn't know how the 88-mile turnpike could be turned back to the state's highway system without funding support.

"The bottom line is we would be hard pressed for anyone in the country today to take a toll off a road that has been tolled,"  Manchin said. "That's just not realistic."

When asked about reports of toll roads being the "wave of the future,"  Manchin said a recent study found only a handful of roads in West Virginia would qualify for the implementation of tolls, and none of those roads are located in southern W.Va.

"The only one I know that even has out-of-state traffic is Route 35,"  Manchin said.

seicer

Turnpike boss, DOH official say they weren't aware of practice
By Mannix Porterfield, Register-Herald, March 10, 2009

CHARLESTON – A West Virginia highways official told a Mercer County delegation Tuesday he was unaware the Turnpike has been leveraging $10 million a year in federal dollars without benefiting from it.

"It was quite a surprise to me,"  Division of Highways business manager Danny Ellis told the group.

"In 13 years with the highways department, I had never known about it."

Ellis joined Gov. Joe Manchin for a special question-and-answer session as part of Mercer County Day at the Legislature, and most of the queries focused on the 88-mile toll road.

Earlier, Senate Minority Leader Don Caruth, R-Mercer, revealed that the $10 million has been attracted by the Turnpike in West Virginia's annual allotment of federal highway money, but not a dime ever went to the toll road. Instead, it was applied to other Interstate highways, all of them operated sans a toll on motorists.

Turnpike Manager Greg Barr, likewise, said the matter was never broached since he has overseen the road, starting two decades ago.

"That doesn't change the fact,"  Delegate Mike Porter, R-Mercer, fired back at Ellis. "We're still not getting the money."

The money issue has arisen, just as the road's governing board, the West Virginia Parkways Authority, is on the verge of raising tolls permanently for the first time since 1981. One that was imposed in 2006 lasted only a few weeks, after a class action lawsuit by trucking outfits led a judge to overturn it.

Barr left no doubt that the authority would set wheels in motion for a fare increase at its April 13 meeting, when it gets both traffic and engineering study results.

That research appears headed toward one conclusion – without a toll increase, not only will deferred maintenance of $238 million (as of last April) stay on the shelf, but more importantly, the authority will flirt with defaulting on its bonds.

"Right now, we think they will,"  Barr said of the studies.

"Those studies are going to confirm what our suspicions are."

Under its bond convenant, Barr explained that the money in hand once expenses are deducted from revenue must equal the annual bond payment of $11 million.

Given the diminished revenues prompted by higher fuel taxes and the growing effects of the recession, Barr suggested the Turnpike is courting trouble.

Commercial truck traffic this year is down 16 percent, and forecasters see the Turnpike taking in $4 million less when the fiscal year ends July 1 – the date the authority must meet its debt coverage with bond holders.

"A perfect storm"  is how Barr explained the situation.

After the April meeting, the manager indicated the authority would advertise public hearings – a necessity under legislation passed when the ill-fated and short-lived fare increase was imposed without input in 2006.

Caruth and Majority Leader Truman Chafin, D-Mingo, are crafting a bill that would assign first priority in the $211 million road stimulus money to Turnpike repairs. That measure has drawn sharp criticism from some Beckley-area lawmakers, who see it as a threat to the $32 million already earmarked for the East Beckley Bypass project.

Manchin told the Mercer Countians he never interfered with decisions on where to spend the federal stimulus package.

"It has been fair,"  he insisted, in discussing the road selection process.

"I've not made one input, not made one phone call. I never got involved."

Manchin said Mercer County has received $91 million in road money since he has been governor.

"I know you're not getting shunned or slightly treated, if you will,"  he said.

Yet, in his travels, Manchin said, each of the four region – north, south, east and west – feels it is getting shortchanged by all the others.

Barr said the state code stipulates that once the current Turnpike bonds are satisfied, and if the highways commissioner feels the road is in "good and fair condition,"  the state assumes control and the tolls come off.

"Trust me, I know that nobody wants to pay, and if they don't have to pay, they shouldn't pay,"  Manchin said.

"But we have what we have now and we've got to maintain it and take care of it."

Manchin revealed he has revised his budget by 2 percent, marking the first time he has been forced to take such action.

But for now, he said West Virginia can weather the economic storm pounding the nation.

As a precaution, however, the governor is pushing legislation that would trigger a tax on employers and employees alike if the jobless benefits fund dips below $180 million.

On Tamarack, the artisans center at the Beckley exit, Manchin gave no inkling when it would be removed from the Parkways Authority.

"A lot of things are in the play here,"  he said.

"I can assure you, it will be very transparent. You'll see everything we see and know."

Asked when he knew about the federal money enticed by the Turnpike, Barr said all he was aware of was that the authority floated bonds to pay the state's $83 million match with $650 million in federal money when the road was expanded to four lanes, meeting Interstate highways.

When he arrived in 1989, the manager said "part of the mantra"  was that the Turnpike was a toll road, and it got no dollars from either the state or federal government.

With the expansion came a pact with the federal government that tolls could only be applied to maintenance, operation and payment of the debt service, Barr added.

seicer

Turnpike eligible for fed funds
By Tammie Toler, Daily Telegraph, March 10, 2009

CHARLESTON – Federal funds allocated to take care of the West Virginia Turnpike have paved projects and progress elsewhere in the state for years – all while Mercer County motorists paid tolls to travel the 88 miles.

Although State Senate Minority Leader Don Caruth, R-Mercer, said he had long suspected the road between Princeton and Charleston was eligible for federal interstate funding, he announced Tuesday that he had finally received confirmation from highways officials and state Transportation Secretary Paul Mattox.

Caruth began disseminating the release Tuesday morning and delivered the news in person to approximately 50 local business leaders who made the trip to Charleston for Mercer County Day at the Legislature.

As the senator explained the interstate funding process, he said the state is compensated annually based on the number of interstate highway miles within West Virginia.

"This money is allocated annually by the federal government for the specific purpose of maintaining interstate highways,"  Caruth said.

For years, Mercer County citizens and leaders alike have repeatedly been told that the turnpike was ineligible for any of those funds, because it was a toll road. Information Caruth attained recently, however, revealed that the U.S. government has indeed allocated approximately $10 million annually for maintenance of the turnpike.

"When we finally got all the questions answered, that answer was, 'Yes. Those 88 miles are included in the allocation,'"  he said.

That money has reportedly been delivered to the West Virginia Department of Transportation and Department of Highways, but West Virginia Parkways Executive Director Greg Barr said Tuesday his organization had never sought to collect any of those funds.

"Where's it going, and why hasn't it been going to the turnpike?"  Bluefield attorney Norris Kantor asked several times during the session.

No one on hand, including Gov. Joe Manchin, could answer why the money wasn't provided for turnpike upkeep.

In fact, they couldn't even confirm how many years the road had been eligible for the money and the West Virginia Parkways Economic Development and Tourism Authority failed to collect.

"I'm comfortable in saying it's quite a number of years,"  Caruth said. "I know the answer is it's a lot of years and a lot of money."

Barr, who joined the Turnpike authority in 1989, said the road administration's "mantra"  when he was hired indicated the road would never receive federal or state funds because of the tolls.

If the federal funding for the turnpike was available for the duration of Barr's tenure, that totals at least 20 years and up to $200 million that could have paved miles, patched potholes and strengthened bridges that never reached the turnpike.

The funding becomes especially critical now, as the turnpike authority estimates that toll revenues are tracking down $4 million this year, possibly pushing the road into a position to default on its bonds without a toll increase by July.

Manchin, who visited the Mercer delegation briefly between other meetings, said he had no more answers on the funding allocation than Caruth, Barr or the highway leaders on hand. Rather than focus on the missing money, the governor assured the indignant audience that any toll increase procedures would be handled in a fair and transparent manner.

"That way, people can make a decision based on the facts,"  Manchin said.

He said he knew no motorist would choose to pay tolls if they weren't necessary.

"But we have what we have now, and we've got to take care of it,"  he said.

Even if the $10 million were released now for repairs on the turnpike, Barr said $10 million annually would not pay for the upkeep of the 88 miles.

Tolls have averaged approximately $56 million in revenue to care for the road.

He said toll revenues are currently approximately 16 percent below average so far this year and are expected to bring in $52 million this year. Engineers are currently studying operating expenses essential, minimum maintenance, deferred maintenance projects and toll revenue forecasts. According to Barr, if the toll revenues won't at least pay for the debt coverage on the road, a toll increase will be essential.

Those estimates should arrive at the April 13 turnpike authority meeting. If a toll increase is recommended, he said public hearings would take place in all counties involved in the rate hike by mid-May. The increase, or other solution, would legally be required in place by July 1.

"It'll be very transparent,"  Manchin said. "The decision that will be made will be made in a most transparent way."

Meanwhile, the governor praised Caruth's determination to get to the bottom of the funding question and his steadfast dedication to represent Mercer County interests in the toll debate.

"If we all deal in the facts, we'll get to the right answers,"  Manchin said.

While the lack of such solutions frustrated most of the Mercer audience, Del. Thomas "Mike"  Porter, R-Mercer, said he finally had the answer to a question he had posed for the last several years.

"I always asked why they say we wouldn't get any more federal money if we take the tolls off,"  he said. "I guess we won't, if we're already getting it."

There were only two things Manchin could say for sure on the turnpike matter, though - that the road must be kept safe and the state cannot default on the loans that have kept it operational with current tolls since 1989. Those bonds are currently scheduled to be paid off in 2019.

At that time, the road could possibly be turned over to the Department of Highways, and tolls could be removed. However, doing such would be impossible at the current rate, with deferred maintenance projects now years overdue.

"We've got guardrails that have holes in them. We've got culverts that are failing,"  Barr said.

During a recent media tour, he said he looked down and saw a wooden plank supporting the steel skeleton of a bridge. Such occurrences, he said, were the result of falling far behind of preventive maintenance without an earlier toll increase.

"Once it gets out and you haven't done the preventive maintenance, then it slips and it falls off the cliff,"  Barr said.

Just as the state leaders never considered seeking federal funds annually to maintain the turnpike, they never considered searching for federal stimulus dollars to fix what's broken.

Rob Pennington, of the state Department of Highways, said his organization never considered using part of the $211 million in stimulus funds allotted the state to fix a portion of the deferred Turnpike projects. Instead, they awarded $32 million to an East Beckley bypass project to an area already serviced by the Turnpike.

That news left the already frustrated Mercer audience near outrage.

"One would think before starting new construction, you'd fix what you have now,"  Frank Brady said. "Eventually, you're not going to be down 16 percent (in toll revenue). You'll be down 80 percent, because nobody is going to travel it (without repairs)."

Kantor agreed.

"Are you waiting for a bridge to go down?"  he asked. "It seems you all aren't concerned about what's going to happen when that thing starts collapsing."

Pennington said the DOH had no intention of revisiting the stimulus allocation.

"Our program, right now, is set,"  he said.

seicer

Several Turnpike articles posted today. ^

Senate leaders target WVa Turnpike tolls
AP, March 11, 2009

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) -- A desire to demolish the tolls on the West Virginia Turnpike has united the state Senate's Democratic and Republican party chiefs.

Majority Leader Truman Chafin and Minority Leader Don Caruth plan to introduce a package of bills Wednesday that would end the 88-mile highway's days as a toll road in 2020.

That's one year after the turnpike is scheduled to pay off bonds that require toll revenue.

One of Wednesday's bills would make the turnpike keep that timetable, while another would bar any new debt.

A third would abolish the tolls. The final piece would require annual audits until that happens.

Chafin also wants to divert stimulus dollars to fund turnpike repairs. Caruth questions why the roadway has failed to seek annual federal highway dollars.

seicer

Barr: Toll hike years in making
By Charles Owens, Bluefield Daily Telegraph, April 16, 2009

PRINCETON – The road to a proposed toll increase on the West Virginia Turnpike has been years in the making, according to Turnpike Manager Greg Barr.

Barr said members of the state Parkways Economic Development and Tourism Authority have been looking at a toll increase since 2001 to address deferred maintenance concerns along the 88-mile turnpike between Princeton and Charleston. Barr said traffic on the turnpike began leveling off in the mid to late 90s following a period of prolonged growth. Barr said what followed was a 10-year period of little or no growth in terms of turnpike traffic.

"In 2001 and 2002, we started working with Gov. (Bob) Wise to do a 20 percent toll increase to start dealing with deferred maintenance,"  Barr said.

However, a toll increase never materialized under the Wise administration. Barr said the toll increase issue was revisited with Gov. Joe Manchin in 2004, but didn't gain traction until just recently. Barr said the authority is now racing against at July 1 deadline to avoid defaulting on its bonds.

"July 1 is the critical date,"  Barr said. "Because that is when the budget for next year has to be adopted. If the board can't adopt a budget that meets the debt coverage test, and maintains the road, then we've got a problem. And that problem would be a technical default. You would still have to raise tolls after 90 days, and the bond trust would have the court to take over as a receiver."

Talk of another toll increase has angered many across southern West Virginia, and local lawmakers have been unified in their opposition to the proposal. The favored option being considered by the authority would raise tolls from $1.25 to $2 per barrier for cars meaning a round trip from Princeton to Charleston would cost $12. Tolls also would increase from $4.25 to $6.75 for five-axle trucks. Motorists with E-Z Passes would pay $1.50 per barrier for a car and $5.06 for a truck, the Associated Press reported Thursday.

Talk of another toll increase has angered many in southern West Virginia, and the region's lawmakers have united in opposition to the plan. Senate Majority Leader H. Truman Chafin, D-Mingo, and Senate Minority Leader Don Caruth, R-Mercer, introduced a plethora of turnpike bills during the recent legislative session. Caruth, Chafin and Senate Finance Chairman Walt Helmick, D-Pocahontas, are now actively searching for excess funds from various state agencies that could be used to keep the Parkways Authority from defaulting on their bonds. That would require about $11 million, and the three lawmakers have suggested the extra funds can be found from two unidentified state agencies.

Barr said the efforts by Caruth and Chafin won't work unless the two lawmakers can come up with a sustainable source of annual revenue until 2019 – which is when the turnpike bonds are scheduled to retire.

"The way our trust indenture is written, it depends upon toll revenue,"  Barr said. "So a one-kind grant or one-kind appropriation doesn't sustain the Parkways into the future. The way the indenture is written, the revenues that support the toll road have to be reliable year in and year out. If you did get a one-time gift, it would require an amendment of the indenture, and possibly bond holder consent. It's like changing the rules of the game midstream. As long as their is $90 million in bonds outstanding, it is difficult. It's a little complicated to change that. So that's what we are up against."

Much also has been said in recent days about federal highway dollars awarded to the turnpike by virtue of the turnpike being in the federal interstate system. However, those federal funds, according to Caruth and Chafin, were used for other highway projects – and not the maintenance and upkeep of the turnpike.

"That's an issue with the DOT (Department of Transportation) and the Federal Highway Administration,"  Barr said in response to the controversy. "The Parkways Authority has no direct dealings with the Federal Highways Administration. My understanding is Paul Mattox and Paul Turman have responded to the questions and concerns of the senators on that money. I really can't say much about that. We really don't have much control over it."

Barr said the Parkways Authority was burdened more than 20 years ago with a number of tourism and economic development functions, including the operations of Tamarack.

"There was a big move to do things with the arts and crafts industry, and from that spawned Tamarack,"  Barr said. "Then we were thrust into a whole different game. And as far as the road, the board members and staff here at Parkways Authority have a responsibility to see that the road is taken care of."

Although it received little media attention, Barr said the Parkways Authority also picked up another tourism-related responsibility in 1996, when it was instructed by the Legislature to make annual payments of $250,000 to the Hatfield-McCoy Recreational Authority to assist with the development of a large-scale trail system through southern West Virginia. The last payment to Hatfield-McCoy was made in 2007.

Barr said state leaders will have another decision to make in 2019. That's when the turnpike bonds are scheduled to be paid off.

"If the secretary of transportation says or if they deem it (the turnpike) to be in good condition and repair, the Department of Highways can then take over the turnpike system,' Barr said. "If we can due this program, we feel by 2019 that will be true, and the turnpike will be in good condition. The more you let this go, the more it will cost to fix it. The more you put off this deferred maintenance, the more the costs go up. If we get started on it now, by 2019 the road will be in a better position for the secretary of transportation – whoever that may be at the time – to make that decision. At that time, the governor and the legislature can decide what they want to do."

Barr also sought to clarify Thursday the date and location of the authority's public hearing in Mercer County. The local public hearing on the proposed turnpike toll increase is Friday, May 22, from 4 to 8:30 p.m. in the courtroom of Circuit Court Judge Derek C. Swope at the Mercer County Courthouse. While an earlier date and location was considered by the authority board, Barr said the final agreed upon date was May 22 at the Mercer County Courthouse.

The public hearing will be conducted in two phases. The initial phase will begin at 4 p.m., and will involve a "public forum"  type setting where attendees can view all available data, interact directly with Parkways representatives and ask questions individually of authority representatives. The actually public hearing – where citizens will be allowed to address members of the authority one by one – will begin at 6 p.m.

74/171FAN

I am now a PennDOT employee.  My opinions/views do not necessarily reflect the opinions/views of PennDOT.

Chris

QuoteIt will be the first toll rate increase since 1981, during which time the purchasing power of the dollar has halved.

Well, a big increase is no surprise then, tolls should be kept with inflation every once in a while.

mightyace

Quote from: Chris on April 29, 2009, 04:04:02 PM
QuoteIt will be the first toll rate increase since 1981, during which time the purchasing power of the dollar has halved.

Well, a big increase is no surprise then, tolls should be kept with inflation every once in a while.

It's just that it's been so long that the increases seem jarring in this case.

As more and more tolling becomes electronic, expect to see more frequent, but smaller, toll increases.
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Truvelo

Is the current $1.25 charge for the entire 88 miles or per tollbooth? $1.25 for the entire length would seem very cheap.

As there are only a few toll booths does this mean anyone joining and leaving in between toll booths doesn't have to pay? If so then surely the locals would know which are the free bits and hence why most tolls are collected from out of state drivers. If I was head of finance for the turnpike I would completely overhaul the system of toll collection as the present system seems to be wide open to toll evasion.
Speed limits limit life

74/171FAN

http://www.tollroadsnews.com/node/4194  More politics a WV "lawmaker" breaking the law due to the proposed toll increase
I am now a PennDOT employee.  My opinions/views do not necessarily reflect the opinions/views of PennDOT.

thenetwork

Quote from: Truvelo on May 01, 2009, 10:52:15 AM
Is the current $1.25 charge for the entire 88 miles or per tollbooth? $1.25 for the entire length would seem very cheap.

Actually, there are 3 separate toll plazas charging $1.25 each.  When these mainline toll plazas replaced the ticket system in the early 80s, when the WVT was mostly 2-lane and plazas were at all the exits, they did try to have pro-rated on & off ramps, similar to the Ill Tollway system. 

That idea did not last long, and those unmanned coin drops were scrapped. 

It is possible to leave the turnpike before the $1.25 barriers and re-enter after without paying.  The Northernmost barrier is the easiest to skirt, the middle involves traversing a 1-1/2 lane winding road for quite a ways, and the Southern barrier can be skirted, but not without a trip through Beckley and US-19.

My guess it that the Turnpike should have kept the remote ramp plazas in place, but I believe that the local outcry for having to pay for local travel on I-77/64 was what abolished them in the first place, but on the flip side, that cost the Turnpike a lot of revenue over the years.

hbelkins

To hear those turnpike officials talking about a 1950's-vintage road is to hear disingenuousness, if not outright lying.

The road was completely rebuilt when it was expanded to four lanes in the 1980s. There are only a very few pieces of the original infrastructure still in use. The road is, basically, about 20 years old.

You have to pay to exit the turnpike at the "To US 19" exit for North Beckley and Summersville. US 19 is a major shortcut for traffic heading north to Pennsylvania and western New York, since it leads directly into I-79 about an hour east of Charleston. Once that east Beckley bypass is completed, traffic will be able to use it and I-64 to bypass that toll booth.


Government would be tolerable if not for politicians and bureaucrats.

mightyace

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I'm out of this F***KING PLACE!

SP Cook

QuoteTo hear those turnpike officials talking about a 1950's-vintage road is to hear disingenuousness, if not outright lying.

The road was completely rebuilt when it was expanded to four lanes in the 1980s. There are only a very few pieces of the original infrastructure still in use. The road is, basically, about 20 years old.


Correct.  The turnpike was completly rebuilt, with regular taxpayer money, in the 1980s.  99.9% of the 1950s two lane section no longer exists.   All money borrowed to build the two lane part was paid off in 1987.  There has been no reason to not take the tolls off since then.

In reality, the turnpike, which answers to no one, had plenty of money to support the road, but simply wasted it on other things, including Tamarack, "investments" in unlisted penny stocks, downtown Charleston real estate, and donations to HS bands, school trips, playgrounds, and the like.

And since their toll increase, it has NOT actually changed the repair rate and has INCREASED its unauthorized spending.  And it has put on extra staff to spew out PRs that say otherwise.  But the goal remains to spend as little of its windfall on the road as possible, and divert as much as it can to self-enrichment.

froggie

So the turnpike makes extremely crappy/unpopular business decisions...point made.  But at the same time, keeping tolls on the turnpike, for maintenance/improvements therein, means WVDOT is not spending regular highway money on the road.

Your argument makes a better case for totally rehauling who/what oversees the turnpike than it does for eliminating tolls.

hbelkins

Quote from: froggie on December 10, 2009, 07:33:17 AM
So the turnpike makes extremely crappy/unpopular business decisions...point made.  But at the same time, keeping tolls on the turnpike, for maintenance/improvements therein, means WVDOT is not spending regular highway money on the road.

Your argument makes a better case for totally rehauling who/what oversees the turnpike than it does for eliminating tolls.

I think a lot of it boils down to what promises were originally made when the road was built. In Kentucky, it was stated up front that the tolls woul come off when the construction was paid for and maintenance would be paid for out of regular highway funds. In fact, I think maintenance was actually paid for out of regular funds while the tolls were still in effect, but I am not certain of that.

If the promise was made that the tolls would be removed once construction was paid off, that promise should be kept. If it was stated up front that tolls would remain for maintenance, there does need to be more oversight or an overhaul of the agency.


Government would be tolerable if not for politicians and bureaucrats.

SP Cook

I get the "no tax money" issue. 

However, as it relates to the WV Turnpike, there are four realities that obviate against that.

First, of course, is the "point made".  The Turnpike spends most of its money on other things, unauthorized by law, rather than fixing the road.

Second, is the fact that the road was really build in the 1980s, with 100% tax money.  The 1950s era two lane road no longer exists.   It is not, like other toll roads, a road built in some special way, but rather, just another taxpayer built road, which, BTW, was finished a decade after the state's freeways.

Third, is that this is the only toll road in the state.  My mother in law lives in Princeton, it costs us $12 to go see her on a taxpayer built road.  My co-worker's father lives in Clarksburg, her trip is free.  How is that fair?

Fourth, the promise in 1950 was that the tolls would come off in 1987.  The promise in 1987 was that the new tolls would be used for road improvements in southern WV, including US 35, which is still not finished, and a Charleston bypass, which will never be built.

Kentucky and Virginia did toll roads in an accountable and honest way.  WV did not.

mightyace

WV Turnpike gets median gates for next blizzard

QuoteWest Virginia Turnpike authority has taken delivery of four emergency median barrier gates. They will be installed in a mountainous stretch of the Turnpike where interchanges and access are distant. The purchase follows a furore over some hundreds of motorists trapped in their cars for up to 24 hours during the pre-Christmas blizzard and some 40 inches (1m) of snow in ten hours. Traffic was backed up for miles by tractor-trailers jack-knifing on ice and multiple rear-ender collisions.
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