I-70 in Wheeling decommissioned (April Fools)

[Rothman]

The West Virginia German helmet spike belongs to the Midwest as much as it does the Mid-Atlantic, and definitely does not belong to any of the various South discussions.

Ohio and West Virginia have always had a symbiotic relationship (moreso from the West Virginia side).

First, symbiotic can't be moreso.

Second, OH and WV hate each other.

[TempoNick]

First, symbiotic can't be moreso.

Second, OH and WV hate each other.

West Virginia needs us more than we need them, but we still do need them. There has always been a lot of interplay between the two states. More than most neighboring states.

Ohio and West Virginia hating each other is ridiculous. Not true at all.

[The Ghostbuster]

Maybe we should stop posting April Fool's Day jokes in the forum. Otherwise, the joke may one day truly be on us.

[Henry]

Maybe we should stop posting April Fool's Day jokes in the forum. Otherwise, the joke may one day truly be on us.

Or at least lock them, since it's obvious that none of these things will ever become reality.

(Although there actually is merit in making the bypass into the new I-70 and the old one downgraded to either a Business Loop or I-470. And it also wouldn't be the first 2di/3di flip-around either, with I-76 and I-676 in Philly being the precedent.)

[Rothman]

First, symbiotic can't be moreso.

Second, OH and WV hate each other.

West Virginia needs us more than we need them, but we still do need them. There has always been a lot of interplay between the two states. More than most neighboring states.

Ohio and West Virginia hating each other is ridiculous. Not true at all.

https://www.reddit.com/r/WestVirginia/comments/38wyyp/why_do_west_virginians_dislike_ohioans/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

[Dirt Roads]

A well-worn old phrase in West Virginia and Kentucky is  that they teach you the three R's in school: Readin', ritin' and Route 23 (to Columbus for a job).

I remember this one from my day.  But for the past 25 years, the saying is now "readin', ritin' and road to Charlotte".

[hbelkins]

First, symbiotic can't be moreso.

Second, OH and WV hate each other.

West Virginia needs us more than we need them, but we still do need them. There has always been a lot of interplay between the two states. More than most neighboring states.

Ohio and West Virginia hating each other is ridiculous. Not true at all.

There's a meme out there about which states hate each other. Ohio and Michigan hate each other in that representation; Virginia and West Virginia hate each other.

A couple of interesting observations from that are that Kentucky hates Tennessee, but both Tennessee and Indiana hate Kentucky; New Jersey hates everyone; and Florida hates itself.

[TempoNick]

First, symbiotic can't be moreso.

Second, OH and WV hate each other.

West Virginia needs us more than we need them, but we still do need them. There has always been a lot of interplay between the two states. More than most neighboring states.

Ohio and West Virginia hating each other is ridiculous. Not true at all.

https://www.reddit.com/r/WestVirginia/comments/38wyyp/why_do_west_virginians_dislike_ohioans/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

Your proof is a thread in Reddit?

I remember this one from my day.  But for the past 25 years, the saying is now "readin', ritin' and road to Charlotte".

Ohio is still the number one state for outmigration though.

[Bitmapped]

First, symbiotic can't be moreso.

Second, OH and WV hate each other.

West Virginia needs us more than we need them, but we still do need them. There has always been a lot of interplay between the two states. More than most neighboring states.

Ohio and West Virginia hating each other is ridiculous. Not true at all.

https://www.reddit.com/r/WestVirginia/comments/38wyyp/why_do_west_virginians_dislike_ohioans/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

The only thing widely disliked about Ohioans by West Virginians is their propensity to drive 55 in the fast lane. I know a lot of West Virginians who have moved to Ohio (and sometimes back) or have family there. I also know of a number of people who, like me, moved from Ohio to West Virginia.

The areas along the Ohio River are pretty economically interdependent across both sides of the river. It's not unusual for people to cross the river for work or shopping. There's no animosity or anything unusual about going from one state to the other.

[TempoNick]

The only thing widely disliked about Ohioans by West Virginians is their propensity to drive 55 in the fast lane. I know a lot of West Virginians who have moved to Ohio (and sometimes back) or have family there. I also know of a number of people who, like me, moved from Ohio to West Virginia.

The areas along the Ohio River are pretty economically interdependent across both sides of the river. It's not unusual for people to cross the river for work or shopping. There's no animosity or anything unusual about going from one state to the other.

From the standpoint of somebody who grew up in the Columbus area, I've always considered Wheeling, Parkersburg and Huntington/Ashland to be kind of in the Columbus orbit. Lots of flow of people and business in both directions.

That's also why the idea of four-laning US 33 all the way to I-77 isn't really all that crazy.

[hbelkins]

The only thing widely disliked about Ohioans by West Virginians is their propensity to drive 55 in the fast lane.

I can't say it's the only thing Kentuckians dislike about Buckeyes, but it's way up there on the list.

[Bitmapped]

From the standpoint of somebody who grew up in the Columbus area, I've always considered Wheeling, Parkersburg and Huntington/Ashland to be kind of in the Columbus orbit. Lots of flow of people and business in both directions.

Huntington/Ashland and Parkersburg, barely, as in the Columbus is the closest large city sense of things. On a day-to-day basis, nope. If anything, Huntington/Ashland and Parkersburg serve as anchors for adjoining counties from Ohio.

Wheeling - absolutely not. Wheeling and the upper Ohio Valley (Steubenville/Weirton) are much more closely tied to Pittsburgh.

[TempoNick]

Huntington/Ashland and Parkersburg, barely, as in the Columbus is the closest large city sense of things. On a day-to-day basis, nope. If anything, Huntington/Ashland and Parkersburg serve as anchors for adjoining counties from Ohio.

Wheeling - absolutely not. Wheeling and the upper Ohio Valley (Steubenville/Weirton) are much more closely tied to Pittsburgh.

You'd be surprised the number of people here from places like Martins Ferry and St Clairsville and all those other little towns around here. Of course, Pittsburgh is closer, but Columbus is also in the mix. That's what creates the connection and the back and forth. And if you follow just the way business ebbed and flowed, Lazarus was down in Huntington, now Big Sandy is up in Columbus as one of the first markets expanded to from their home turf. It's hard to put numbers to it it's just a sense and also because those bordertown media markets extend way into Ohio.

[Rothman]

In my experience, Cincinnati is more the big city for Huntington and points south into eastern KY than Columbus.

[Dirt Roads]

^^^^
Back when the only mall in West Virginia was the Grand Central Mall between Vienna and Parkersburg, we would drive from Teays Valley to there in the off-season and then rotate years going to malls in Cincinnati, Lexington and Columbus.  Big-time shopping was a similar for other families in both Charleston and Huntington.  The Huntington Mall in Barboursville opened in 1981 and the Charleston Town Center opened a few years later.

[TempoNick]

In my experience, Cincinnati is more the big city for Huntington and points south into eastern KY than Columbus.

I remember a decent number of West Virginia license plates in the parking lots of Northland and Eastland Mall on the weekends back in the day. Readin', ritin' and Route 23 was a real thing.

[hbelkins]

^^^^
Back when the only mall in West Virginia was the Grand Central Mall between Vienna and Parkersburg, we would drive from Teays Valley to there in the off-season and then rotate years going to malls in Cincinnati, Lexington and Columbus.  Big-time shopping was a similar for other families in both Charleston and Huntington.  The Huntington Mall in Barboursville opened in 1981 and the Charleston Town Center opened a few years later.

When I was attending Morehead State, I dated a student whose family lived locally. We started seeing each other in the spring of 1982. We made several trips to Huntington Mall, just the two of us and also with her mom. I didn't realize that mall was that new.

[Rothman]

In my experience, Cincinnati is more the big city for Huntington and points south into eastern KY than Columbus.

I remember a decent number of West Virginia license plates in the parking lots of Northland and Eastland Mall on the weekends back in the day. Readin', ritin' and Route 23 was a real thing.

Um...okay.

[TempoNick]

Um...okay.

One response is not scientific but I put it up for a question on a local board in Huntington. This guy had some good thoughts so I'm cutting and pasting.

It sounds like the connection to Cincinnati is about sports, which makes sense since the Cincinnati Reds and Bengals were always big in Huntington. For business and personal, it sounds like Columbus is more of their hub city

In all honesty, I'd say it's pretty even as both are just about 2 1/2 hours away. People go to Columbus more for shopping and the zoo there is better than the one in Cincinnati. They also have a nice science center there in COSI. Pullman Square here in Huntington is actually run by a group out of Columbus so there's a direct connection there. If people move for a job to one or the other, I've heard of people going to Columbus more. They also travel out of the Columbus airport more often.

Because of the sports teams and Kings Island, there's a pretty close connection to Cincinnati too. In addition, being an Ohio river town as well has also probably linked Huntington and Cincy more historically. That probably also creates a lot of economic connections as goods travel along the River between the two. There are also the riverboat cruises that come from Cincinnati that frequently stop in Huntington. People from here also frequent the aquarium in Covington, KY just across the River from Cincy.

Without any hard numbers and just from my personal knowledge and experience, I'd say it's pretty even.

[KCRoadFan]

Given that I-470 is recommended for through traffic in the region, I suppose WVDOT might as well just go ahead and make it official by swapping the I-70 and I-470 designations.

In fact, I'm surprised that those weren't the designations already - unless I-70 was built first through Wheeling, which would make sense.

[The Ghostbuster]

I think it would be more likely that 470 would become 70, and 70 would become Business 70.

[Bitmapped]

Given that I-470 is recommended for through traffic in the region, I suppose WVDOT might as well just go ahead and make it official by swapping the I-70 and I-470 designations.

In fact, I'm surprised that those weren't the designations already - unless I-70 was built first through Wheeling, which would make sense.

I-70 was first.

I think it would be more likely that 470 would become 70, and 70 would become Business 70.

WV doesn't do business routes. OH very rarely does.

[vdeane]

Given that I-70 doesn't meet interstate standards near the tunnel, I wonder if that's why they haven't been swapped.  FHWA might demand that it be upgraded or made a non-interstate.

WV doesn't do business routes. OH very rarely does.

NY doesn't either - and yet we're still getting one in Syracuse.

[SEWIGuy]

Maybe its not being renumbered because there really isn't much reason to.

[JREwing78]

I think it would be more likely that 470 would become 70, and 70 would become Business 70.

That would be the sensible solution. They built I-470 for a reason - because it was way less destructive and disruptive than expanding the Wheeling Tunnel, twinning the Fort Henry Bridge, and forcing 6-8 lanes of Interstate traffic right through the middle of Wheeling.

Keeping I-70 on the old roadway is all about one thing - keeping the Interstate designation. The instant anyone makes a move to change designations, the current I-70 route loses the grandfathered design exceptions allowing its Interstate status.

Somebody in Wheeling apparently thinks this is important, in a way that a Business route would not be, to maintain as-is. Perhaps it's there to help fund maintenance on the Tunnel and Bridge?