West Virginia Turnpike

[Dirt Roads]

You might want to check your facts.  While the cities of Charleston and Huntington are in decline, Putnam County has more than doubled in population since I-64 was built.  I-64 was grossly over capacity and the six lane upgrade is badly needed.  The first upgrade, which extended six lanes from South Charleston to Nitro, ended a DAILY complete stop situation at rush hour and reduced accident levels.  The current section, from Nitro to Scott Depot, again, is a DAILY complete stop situation.  The six lane upgrade is badly needed.

As to the Turnpike being the state's "marque" highway, umm, why?  I-64 between Huntington and Charleston is the busiest road in the state by far.

To that end, just before WVDOH began any widening along I-64, the (then) fourlane section between Cross Lanes -and- Institute ranked in the national Top Ten for Peak VPHPL (vehicles per hour per lane).  (Not sure why this section was higher than the adjacent Institute -to- Dunbar). 

No wonder, as this section of I-64 carries a bunch of lower-case "interstate" regional routings (none of which are huge, but you get the point): 

• St. Louis/Louisville -to- Richmond/Tidewater
• St. Louis/Louisville -to- Charlotte Metrolina
• St. Louis/Louisville -to- Raleigh/Durham
• Cincinnati -to- all three of these destinations
• Detroit/Toledo/Columbus -to- all three of these destinations

Not to mention that both the Tri-Cities (Huntington/Ashland/Ironton) and Charleston/Kanawha Valley still have active industrial complexes that shove more than their fair share of truckers onto I-64.

[Rothman]

Putnam County has under 60,000 people.  There are Interstates that pass communities with more people than that with only two lanes in each direction that do just fine...

[GCrites]

I've noticed it really is a matter of perspective. Ohio has suburbs that have more people than Charleston yet people in New York City see the entire state of Ohio as insignificant. Like how everyone in West Virgina knows where Gilbert is even though it only has 500 people.

One of the main ideas behind metrics is to eliminate perspective and think in terms of cold hard numbers.

[SP Cook]

Putnam County has under 60,000 people.  There are Interstates that pass communities with more people than that with only two lanes in each direction that do just fine...

That's nice for them.  Not the case here, where the three lane upgrade will end DAILY rush hour traffic halts. 

[seicer]

Putnam County has under 60,000 people.  There are Interstates that pass communities with more people than that with only two lanes in each direction that do just fine...

Connecting to two of the state's most significant employment centers, Interstate 64 has only one real alternate route: two-lane US 60. One accident that closes the highway will cause complete gridlock on US 60. The only other alternate route is to drive up to WV 2, which is a good two-hour detour. Regardless, population figures don't matter when planning routes if the highway has a poor level of service, carries too much traffic for its design, or has steep grades that congest traffic and contribute to safety issues. The latter is a significant issue for Interstate 79 north of Clarksburg, where a lack of truck climbing lanes contributes to significant speed differentials. A cheaper alternative could be to add truck climbing lanes, but with the number of lanes that would be needed, an overall corridor upgrade could be more beneficial.

Interstate 64 between Charleston and Huntington varies between 72,000 and 31,000 AADT and generally consists of 13% and 20% trucks.

Interstate 77 around Parkersburg will be six lanes from Mineral Wells to US 50, with the underpowered US 50 interchange in the planning phases for reconstruction. Traffic counts are around 25,000 AADT, but there is heavy rush-hour traffic.

Interstate 79 between Anmoore and Morgantown will be six lanes, with significant portions widened between Clarksburg and Bridgeport and around Fairmont. The corridor is seeing significant commercial growth in Bridgeport near the FBI CJIS facility and at White Hall.

The West Virginia Turnpike around Beckley was also widened in recent years because the level of service was not great. Factor in US 19 and Interstate 64 dumping traffic onto the highway, multiple local interchanges, a service area, and numerous grades - it made for a lot of slow driving. It also has a high truck percentage rate. A case could be made to widen most of the Turnpike at this point to six lanes - it can be a slow drive (<55 MPH) for much of the route in the summer because of tourism. (And a point can be easily made for widening southward to Interstate 81. The route experiences very long backups at the tunnels and on the grades because of the high percentage of trucks that use the highway.)

You can't just look at Google Maps, see farm and forest land, and conclude that rural interstates don't deserve widening or improvement projects.

[MASTERNC]

Putnam County has under 60,000 people.  There are Interstates that pass communities with more people than that with only two lanes in each direction that do just fine...

Connecting to two of the state's most significant employment centers, Interstate 64 has only one real alternate route: two-lane US 60. One accident that closes the highway will cause complete gridlock on US 60. The only other alternate route is to drive up to WV 2, which is a good two-hour detour. Regardless, population figures don't matter when planning routes if the highway has a poor level of service, carries too much traffic for its design, or has steep grades that congest traffic and contribute to safety issues. The latter is a significant issue for Interstate 79 north of Clarksburg, where a lack of truck climbing lanes contributes to significant speed differentials. A cheaper alternative could be to add truck climbing lanes, but with the number of lanes that would be needed, an overall corridor upgrade could be more beneficial.

Interstate 64 between Charleston and Huntington varies between 72,000 and 31,000 AADT and generally consists of 13% and 20% trucks.

Interstate 77 around Parkersburg will be six lanes from Mineral Wells to US 50, with the underpowered US 50 interchange in the planning phases for reconstruction. Traffic counts are around 25,000 AADT, but there is heavy rush-hour traffic.

Interstate 79 between Anmoore and Morgantown will be six lanes, with significant portions widened between Clarksburg and Bridgeport and around Fairmont. The corridor is seeing significant commercial growth in Bridgeport near the FBI CJIS facility and at White Hall.

The West Virginia Turnpike around Beckley was also widened in recent years because the level of service was not great. Factor in US 19 and Interstate 64 dumping traffic onto the highway, multiple local interchanges, a service area, and numerous grades - it made for a lot of slow driving. It also has a high truck percentage rate. A case could be made to widen most of the Turnpike at this point to six lanes - it can be a slow drive (<55 MPH) for much of the route in the summer because of tourism. (And a point can be easily made for widening southward to Interstate 81. The route experiences very long backups at the tunnels and on the grades because of the high percentage of trucks that use the highway.)

You can't just look at Google Maps, see farm and forest land, and conclude that rural interstates don't deserve widening or improvement projects.

Could also use climbing lanes on I-79 NB between Morgantown and the PA line.  There is a climb up to the SB welcome center and then it is downhill to the PA line.

[seicer]

It should be noted that some of these reconstruction projects have different funding sources. The Turnpike widening around Beckley, the Interstate 64 widening projects around Barboursville and Nitro-St. Albans and the Interstate 79 widening project in Fairmont were funded through the $2.8 billion Roads to Prosperity highway construction and maintenance program. The Interstate 64 and 79 projects involve rebuilding 60+ year-old roadway bases and correcting long-standing drainage issues, including significant bridge replacement projects (I've covered this for Bridges & Tunnels). Earlier projects were more piecemeal and shorter in length and were not part of the Roads to Prosperity bonds. I disagree with Governor Justice on many topics, but the bond program has kickstarted long-proposed and delayed widening and reconstruction projects.

Those who have disagreed with how West Virginia is tackling its highway infrastructure come from other states. If your state has four-lane corridors carrying 60,000 AADT, you should ask what it is doing with its funding and why it doesn't have senators and house representatives bringing home the dollars.

[Dirt Roads]

Roads to Prosperity had two sets of bonds issued. General obligation bonds, permitted by a voter-passed constitutional amendment, were issued for projects all over the state including, inexplicably, the Beckley area widening on the Turnpike. A second set of bonds, backed solely by toll revenue on the Turnpike from increased tolls, is for projects in the 10-county area of the southern part of the state. Most of those projects are off-turnpike.

including, inexplicably, the Beckley area widening on the Turnpike.

You keep saying this, but is it any more ridiculous than widening I-79 to 6 lanes around Clarksburg, or gasp... let's connect 2 dead/dying cities of Huntington and Charleston with a 6-lane highway. Columbus/Cincinnati and Pittsburgh/Cleveland are not connected with a 6-lane highway but Charleston and Huntington?!?

The West Virginia Turnpike around Beckley was also widened in recent years because the level of service was not great. Factor in US 19 and Interstate 64 dumping traffic onto the highway, multiple local interchanges, a service area, and numerous grades - it made for a lot of slow driving. It also has a high truck percentage rate. A case could be made to widen most of the Turnpike at this point to six lanes - it can be a slow drive (<55 MPH) for much of the route in the summer because of tourism. (And a point can be easily made for widening southward to Interstate 81. The route experiences very long backups at the tunnels and on the grades because of the high percentage of trucks that use the highway.)

Back to the original argument, Bitmapped was making a comment that a State-funded Roads-to-Prosperity Program funded a widening project on the West Virginia Turnpike that (coulda-woulda-shoulda) been funded by the Parkways Authority (ergo, the Turnpike Authority).  The rest of the discussion should be a political one (that may not be inappropriate on this Forum, as it is related to how the citizenry of a particular state has a penchant for funding highway infrastructure projects, if they can't get their Congressional forces to bring in an earmark).

[vdeane]

Putnam County has under 60,000 people.  There are Interstates that pass communities with more people than that with only two lanes in each direction that do just fine...

Connecting to two of the state's most significant employment centers, Interstate 64 has only one real alternate route: two-lane US 60. One accident that closes the highway will cause complete gridlock on US 60. The only other alternate route is to drive up to WV 2, which is a good two-hour detour. Regardless, population figures don't matter when planning routes if the highway has a poor level of service, carries too much traffic for its design, or has steep grades that congest traffic and contribute to safety issues. The latter is a significant issue for Interstate 79 north of Clarksburg, where a lack of truck climbing lanes contributes to significant speed differentials. A cheaper alternative could be to add truck climbing lanes, but with the number of lanes that would be needed, an overall corridor upgrade could be more beneficial.

Interstate 64 between Charleston and Huntington varies between 72,000 and 31,000 AADT and generally consists of 13% and 20% trucks.

Interstate 77 around Parkersburg will be six lanes from Mineral Wells to US 50, with the underpowered US 50 interchange in the planning phases for reconstruction. Traffic counts are around 25,000 AADT, but there is heavy rush-hour traffic.

Interstate 79 between Anmoore and Morgantown will be six lanes, with significant portions widened between Clarksburg and Bridgeport and around Fairmont. The corridor is seeing significant commercial growth in Bridgeport near the FBI CJIS facility and at White Hall.

The West Virginia Turnpike around Beckley was also widened in recent years because the level of service was not great. Factor in US 19 and Interstate 64 dumping traffic onto the highway, multiple local interchanges, a service area, and numerous grades - it made for a lot of slow driving. It also has a high truck percentage rate. A case could be made to widen most of the Turnpike at this point to six lanes - it can be a slow drive (<55 MPH) for much of the route in the summer because of tourism. (And a point can be easily made for widening southward to Interstate 81. The route experiences very long backups at the tunnels and on the grades because of the high percentage of trucks that use the highway.)

You can't just look at Google Maps, see farm and forest land, and conclude that rural interstates don't deserve widening or improvement projects.

Speaking of Google Maps, it appears that there's contiguous development along I-64 between the Huntington and Charleston, much of it within a couple miles of I-64 on a narrow strip.  Such a development pattern and lack of other east-west routes (besides US 60) could explain why this area would punch above its weight class in terms of congestion.  That said, this congestion isn't showing on the Google Maps traffic layer - toggling on "typical traffic", nearly all of it shows as green every day through rush hour.  To the extent that there are issues, they seem to be mainly approaching the Kanawha River.  Now, I know green doesn't mean as comfortable as us roadgeeks would like, or even going the speed limit necessarily, but it's hardly the complete stop situation described by SP Cook.

[seicer]

Roads to Prosperity had two sets of bonds issued. General obligation bonds, permitted by a voter-passed constitutional amendment, were issued for projects all over the state including, inexplicably, the Beckley area widening on the Turnpike. A second set of bonds, backed solely by toll revenue on the Turnpike from increased tolls, is for projects in the 10-county area of the southern part of the state. Most of those projects are off-turnpike.

including, inexplicably, the Beckley area widening on the Turnpike.

You keep saying this, but is it any more ridiculous than widening I-79 to 6 lanes around Clarksburg, or gasp... let's connect 2 dead/dying cities of Huntington and Charleston with a 6-lane highway. Columbus/Cincinnati and Pittsburgh/Cleveland are not connected with a 6-lane highway but Charleston and Huntington?!?

The West Virginia Turnpike around Beckley was also widened in recent years because the level of service was not great. Factor in US 19 and Interstate 64 dumping traffic onto the highway, multiple local interchanges, a service area, and numerous grades - it made for a lot of slow driving. It also has a high truck percentage rate. A case could be made to widen most of the Turnpike at this point to six lanes - it can be a slow drive (<55 MPH) for much of the route in the summer because of tourism. (And a point can be easily made for widening southward to Interstate 81. The route experiences very long backups at the tunnels and on the grades because of the high percentage of trucks that use the highway.)

Back to the original argument, Bitmapped was making a comment that a State-funded Roads-to-Prosperity Program funded a widening project on the West Virginia Turnpike that (coulda-woulda-shoulda) been funded by the Parkways Authority (ergo, the Turnpike Authority).  The rest of the discussion should be a political one (that may not be inappropriate on this Forum, as it is related to how the citizenry of a particular state has a penchant for funding highway infrastructure projects, if they can't get their Congressional forces to bring in an earmark).

The Turnpike widening around Beckley was a Roads to Prosperity project. But the rest of the discussion borders politics but is related as that's how a lot of projects come to fruition. It's why you see the "Robert C. Byrd Appalachian Highway System" signage in the state and not elsewhere - Senator Byrd was responsible for bringing home the dollars to complete much of the ADHS corridors in West Virginia over his decades-long tenure.

Putnam County has under 60,000 people.  There are Interstates that pass communities with more people than that with only two lanes in each direction that do just fine...

Connecting to two of the state's most significant employment centers, Interstate 64 has only one real alternate route: two-lane US 60. One accident that closes the highway will cause complete gridlock on US 60. The only other alternate route is to drive up to WV 2, which is a good two-hour detour. Regardless, population figures don't matter when planning routes if the highway has a poor level of service, carries too much traffic for its design, or has steep grades that congest traffic and contribute to safety issues. The latter is a significant issue for Interstate 79 north of Clarksburg, where a lack of truck climbing lanes contributes to significant speed differentials. A cheaper alternative could be to add truck climbing lanes, but with the number of lanes that would be needed, an overall corridor upgrade could be more beneficial.

Interstate 64 between Charleston and Huntington varies between 72,000 and 31,000 AADT and generally consists of 13% and 20% trucks.

Interstate 77 around Parkersburg will be six lanes from Mineral Wells to US 50, with the underpowered US 50 interchange in the planning phases for reconstruction. Traffic counts are around 25,000 AADT, but there is heavy rush-hour traffic.

Interstate 79 between Anmoore and Morgantown will be six lanes, with significant portions widened between Clarksburg and Bridgeport and around Fairmont. The corridor is seeing significant commercial growth in Bridgeport near the FBI CJIS facility and at White Hall.

The West Virginia Turnpike around Beckley was also widened in recent years because the level of service was not great. Factor in US 19 and Interstate 64 dumping traffic onto the highway, multiple local interchanges, a service area, and numerous grades - it made for a lot of slow driving. It also has a high truck percentage rate. A case could be made to widen most of the Turnpike at this point to six lanes - it can be a slow drive (<55 MPH) for much of the route in the summer because of tourism. (And a point can be easily made for widening southward to Interstate 81. The route experiences very long backups at the tunnels and on the grades because of the high percentage of trucks that use the highway.)

You can't just look at Google Maps, see farm and forest land, and conclude that rural interstates don't deserve widening or improvement projects.

Speaking of Google Maps, it appears that there's contiguous development along I-64 between the Huntington and Charleston, much of it within a couple miles of I-64 on a narrow strip.  Such a development pattern and lack of other east-west routes (besides US 60) could explain why this area would punch above its weight class in terms of congestion.  That said, this congestion isn't showing on the Google Maps traffic layer - toggling on "typical traffic", nearly all of it shows as green every day through rush hour.  To the extent that there are issues, they seem to be mainly approaching the Kanawha River.  Now, I know green doesn't mean as comfortable as us roadgeeks would like, or even going the speed limit necessarily, but it's hardly the complete stop situation described by SP Cook.

I think SP Cook lives in the metro valley, and I live adjacent to it. But I've been on it enough to know that one accident causes traffic to be shunted to a two-lane road too many times. The problem is that it's a singular highway that carries the burden of through traffic for an entire valley. It's also an issue with the Turnpike as the detour involves steep, winding grades that become complete bottlenecks that RVs and large trucks have issues negotiating. In general, the state has a lack of alternative routes - it's not easy to just add parallel roads to provide relief or to widen existing roads.

And while the two cities on each end have declined in population, they are still just as important - it's just that people now live in outlying areas and commute.

[hbelkins]

I've been hung up in stopped traffic westbound on I-64 between Dunbar/Institute and Teays Valley/Hurricane many, many times. The current construction situation at the westernmost Kanawha River crossing (between the Nitro and St. Albans exits) is messy, but hopefully once it's done, things will improve.