West Virginia Turnpike

[SP Cook]

The new Beckley travel plaza is open.  I dropped by to check it out.  Pretty unremarkable, as such things go.  Typical single room food court type deal, Wendy's, Popeye's, Starbucks.  Prices are not totally unreasonable.  The store sells typical tourist items like shirts and hats, and "we forgot" stuff like charger cords, diapers, neck pillows, along with some typical c-store fare like chips and soda and candy.  Prices are high, but no higher than any private outfit would charge in a highway facing store for such things.  All outlets had self-checkouts, with only one actual human worker, which is a sign of the times.

There is a small store of Scamarack items at one end of the store.

Restrooms will not be confused for Buc-eees.  Already dirty and already grafitied.

Fuel center was only about 10c over the standard regional price, but, oddly they seemed to have put the old pumps in storage and reinstalled them, they were clearly used and their inspection stickers expired two years ago. 

They had the truck part open, but it looked like they still have some work to do to finish it.

[seicer]

Are there showers in the new service area? That was the one thing I loved about the old plaza - it made it super convenient to spend the day at the Gorge, shower, and then go find a place to camp (overland). It was especially convenient for overlanders and RVers.

[SP Cook]

There are showers, but I think that is in the yet unfinished trucker part of the place.

It looks like maybe a month or so to get that totally finished.

[Black-Man]

Going back to electronic toll collections, for September, the take rate is 59.1%, an increase of 1.9% from the prior year. Or 66.6% of total toll revenue, a rise of 2.2% from the preceding year. The revenue is increasing more than the overall take if you review older data from the WVPA, which may indicate that commercial trucks are increasingly using EZ-Pass. This would mirror trends with other major toll roads.

I had some time to kill and stopped by the Parkways office and had a chat as I had a number of failed EZPass reads on my transponder. I suggest everyone to check their account on the Parkway's website. You may get a surprise (or in my case, 8 surprises).

What I was told, was that the North Beckley exit work on cashless toll is more of a feasibility project and depending on how it plays out will determine what toll barrier will be next. The system they recently installed can handle cashless tolls at any/all barriers and the plan is to head in that direction. I asked about Cheylan and he smiled and said "that obviously will be the last to be implemented". Cheylan is obviously a problem. I travel this road a LOT and Friday afternoon during the summer, it's a no-go southbound. With the construction on the bridge at the bottom of the hill, it's even worse.

[Bitmapped]

Going back to electronic toll collections, for September, the take rate is 59.1%, an increase of 1.9% from the prior year. Or 66.6% of total toll revenue, a rise of 2.2% from the preceding year. The revenue is increasing more than the overall take if you review older data from the WVPA, which may indicate that commercial trucks are increasingly using EZ-Pass. This would mirror trends with other major toll roads.

I had some time to kill and stopped by the Parkways office and had a chat as I had a number of failed EZPass reads on my transponder. I suggest everyone to check their account on the Parkway's website. You may get a surprise (or in my case, 8 surprises).

What I was told, was that the North Beckley exit work on cashless toll is more of a feasibility project and depending on how it plays out will determine what toll barrier will be next. The system they recently installed can handle cashless tolls at any/all barriers and the plan is to head in that direction. I asked about Cheylan and he smiled and said "that obviously will be the last to be implemented". Cheylan is obviously a problem. I travel this road a LOT and Friday afternoon during the summer, it's a no-go southbound. With the construction on the bridge at the bottom of the hill, it's even worse.

The traffic counts are actually pretty similar between the three mainline barriers - all around 26,000 AADT. While Ghent gets more through traffic, Chelyan and Pax get commuter traffic between Charleston and Beckley. The number of lanes is not consistent between the barriers, with 10 at Chelyan, 9 at Pax, and 12 at Ghent. That would suggest Pax should probably be the first to be converted to maximize capacity.

[vdeane]

Going back to electronic toll collections, for September, the take rate is 59.1%, an increase of 1.9% from the prior year. Or 66.6% of total toll revenue, a rise of 2.2% from the preceding year. The revenue is increasing more than the overall take if you review older data from the WVPA, which may indicate that commercial trucks are increasingly using EZ-Pass. This would mirror trends with other major toll roads.

I had some time to kill and stopped by the Parkways office and had a chat as I had a number of failed EZPass reads on my transponder. I suggest everyone to check their account on the Parkway's website. You may get a surprise (or in my case, 8 surprises).

What I was told, was that the North Beckley exit work on cashless toll is more of a feasibility project and depending on how it plays out will determine what toll barrier will be next. The system they recently installed can handle cashless tolls at any/all barriers and the plan is to head in that direction. I asked about Cheylan and he smiled and said "that obviously will be the last to be implemented". Cheylan is obviously a problem. I travel this road a LOT and Friday afternoon during the summer, it's a no-go southbound. With the construction on the bridge at the bottom of the hill, it's even worse.

The traffic counts are actually pretty similar between the three mainline barriers - all around 26,000 AADT. While Ghent gets more through traffic, Chelyan and Pax get commuter traffic between Charleston and Beckley. The number of lanes is not consistent between the barriers, with 10 at Chelyan, 9 at Pax, and 12 at Ghent. That would suggest Pax should probably be the first to be converted to maximize capacity.

I would think Pax and Cheylan would be good to do next if Beckley goes well, given the commuter traffic and capacity issues.  I'm not sure why Cheylan would be "obviously last", given that things like space aren't a concern (just put up gantries nearby and then demolish the toll booths, not hard); if anything, the capacity and lack of commuters at Ghent would suggest that IT should be the last to switch.

[Dirt Roads]

I would think Pax and Cheylan would be good to do next if Beckley goes well, given the commuter traffic and capacity issues.  I'm not sure why Cheylan would be "obviously last", given that things like space aren't a concern (just put up gantries nearby and then demolish the toll booths, not hard); if anything, the capacity and lack of commuters at Ghent would suggest that IT should be the last to switch.

Certainly.  They didn't have any problem with removal of the original end line tollgates when the West Virginia Turnpike eliminated the toll tickets in 1989.  I remember driving straight through the old mainline tollbooths at Princeton for a short time after the new mainline tollbooth opened at Ghent.  It didn't take long before they were removed and everything converted to a freeway.  Today, it's hard to tell where it originally was located (except they still give you a gentle reminder).

[seicer]

What did the recent upgrade of the technology at the barriers provide? Just the capability to read EZ-Pass transponders in each lane at higher speeds (although the signed speed limit is the same given the width of the lanes and people around)? And modernizing the technology as that was about a decade+ old at that point?

I am unsurprised that the North Beckley Plaza is the pilot for a potential all-electronic collection system. While most of my travels have been smooth, I've been stuck in some horrendous summer backups at the plazas.

[Dirt Roads]

What did the recent upgrade of the technology at the barriers provide?

The West Virginia Turnpike was upgraded in November 2024 for "Toll by Plate" (ergo, license plate readers).

[ARMOURERERIC]

When I stopped at the mainline barrier south of Beckley, I inquired about the toll amount at exit 48.  The toll taker told me 75 cents cash only.  When I got to the exit, it was all ez pass or pay by plate.  I still can't find on their own website where to pay.

[MASTERNC]

When I stopped at the mainline barrier south of Beckley, I inquired about the toll amount at exit 48.  The toll taker told me 75 cents cash only.  When I got to the exit, it was all ez pass or pay by plate.  I still can't find on their own website where to pay.

They don't make it easy to find but I think this is where you go ("Pay Unpaid Cash Toll")

https://www.ezpasswv.com/pay-tolls

[wriddle082]

Service Plaza update:

Bluestone is now open.

Morton is now closed, and demolition seems to be just starting.

Wish there was a way to allow southbound access to Morton, but I don't think there's room for the curves required for the bridges, much less enough room to double the parking.  I don't think there are any gas stations heading southbound from Chelyan all the way to Mossy (25 miles).  Mahan looks like they only have the remains of an old Sunoco, and Sharon and Standard both have no services.

[thenetwork]

According to this article:

https://fox8.com/news/mudslide-along-west-virginia-highway-strands-thousands-for-more-than-8-hours/

The West Virginia Turnpike didn't take a mudslide too seriously yesterday and hundreds of vehicles were trapped.

[hbelkins]

According to this article:

https://fox8.com/news/mudslide-along-west-virginia-highway-strands-thousands-for-more-than-8-hours/

The West Virginia Turnpike didn't take a mudslide too seriously yesterday and hundreds of vehicles were trapped.

Why didn't they open those gates they put in the jersey barrier after a snowstorm stranded a bunch of people a few years ago and turn traffic around?

[seicer]

I was curious, too.

To note about the mudslide: a meteorologist provided a graphic that showed the intense rainfall that happened in a very localized area. Over 6" of rain fell along the Turnpike in a very short period. No roadway system is designed to handle that much water at once. There were reports of the roadway flooding before the mudslide that clogged the storm drain, leading to even more flooding.

But WVTP should have opened the barriers within the hour. Instead, we got images of people once again sleeping in their cars because the Turnpike was shut down. There are no good alternative routes - US 60 is not suitable for commercial vehicles, and the last time this was used as an unofficial detour, trucks were jackknifing on the curves and RVs getting stuck on the steep grades.

[SP Cook]

All the reports say only the northbound lane was blocked, so it would have been dangerous to use the turn lanes, unless they closed the road southbound and took turns.

[Bitmapped]

I haven't seen mentioned anywhere exactly where the mudslide occurred, but depending on the location, the median gates might not have been all that useful.

The articles I saw mentioned a 12-mile backup. There's no place on the Turnpike that is more than 12 miles between interchanges. The longest in the Paint Creek-Cabin Creek section is 8 miles, with spacing generally being more like 5-6 miles, so I'm puzzled why WVPA (or people themselves) didn't just exit and turn around.