West Virginia Turnpike

The whats & whys; this’ll be fun

The West Virginia Turnpike is ran by the West Virginia Parkways Authority, with a Turnpike Commission.

Disclaimer

First off, I don’t care about the 75 cents at the northern booth and $2.75 ($4.00 since 2019, $4.25 starting on 1/01/2022 according to the road sign) at the southern toll booth. I think everyone should be able to do 75 cents in a country that prides itself on a good economy.

Plus, my perfectionist mindset which expects the government, to include West Virginia Parkways Authority to be at the technology of everything else in said country, just gets reinforced with the toll booths. Not only to waste people’s time, but to force a specific tax and not give everyone a fair way to pay it, is ideocracy at best.

The Turnpike

The turnpike reaches 88 miles of a 4-lane highway, that started in 1952 and took two years to build. It has a built-in road upgrade to keep the highway rising with the area’s elevation. Some call it a masterpiece. I agree that is was very tedious and a good idea back in 1952!

Finances

Naturally, there has been a progression of finances as the years have gone.

According to West Virginia Parkways Authority, there is an average of 95,000 toll booth transactions per day (95,000 vehicles). How many per year? 34,200,000 if we just calculate 360 days.

According to the West Virginia Parkways Authority:

• $84.5 Million in revenue from just toll booths in 2015

According to West Virginia Parkways Authority:

• A total of $49.8 Million in expenses in 2015 (for everything, to include the tunnel and law enforcement support — yes, a commission can hire law enforcement, in this case the Turnpike Commission)

https://transportation.wv.gov/Turnpike/about/Documents/FINANCIAL%20AND%20TOLL%20INFORMATION.pdf

What happens with the additional money? politician pockets, I don’t know.

Why did the tolls go up this year and why are they going up next year when they should have had close to $300 Million in excess funds?

Debt

Regardless of how much they make, for every addition they do they take out a loan. But, their bond troubles were back in the 1900’s. In 2021 they put out a survey to the public, asking for “modernization tips”. So, they have money. But, they have no plans to expand the roads. Which leads us to the problem.

The problem

The 75 Cent Fee-Lane

On the 75 cent fee-lane there is no human there. So if you are visiting or don’t know that you’re in the toll booth highway, you get charged like $25, I think, if you bust that red light because you don’t have exact change. You must have 75 cents in cash!

Everyone behind you will beep at you and get agitated, as you sit there looking at the red light, knowing that even Dollar General in Bumpkin Town has a payment terminal, also known as a point of sale (POS) terminal.

The $2.25 fee-lane, which is now $4.25 [pause]

• [pause] if they made $80 Million at $2.25, for example, how much at $4.25?

Anyways, so that lane is manned, where you can get change back. Insane, right? So, they are paying a person to be there, when a small backwoods gas station figured out how to take card and cash without hiring a person.

Not only that, but the distance between the two lanes is like 5 miles. Why did they not put just one toll, at $5.00? They want the $25 fees. Which is insane when the money just funds the turnpike! It’s not like a court fee.

Or we can pay for an annual $25 E-Pass Membership.

Additionally

In 2022 the Turnpike commission will pay $8,375,000 towards their debt https://www.ncdot.gov/divisions/turnpike/investor/Documents/official-statement-monroe-series-2010a.pdf. Even if we add that amount to what they made back in 2015, they would still be ahead by over $20 Million in one year. This was when they were charging less than what they are now.

And we can’t widen the roads for $20,000,000?

The survey about modernizing is just for then to build things to charge us more money. We tell them, “we want more restrooms”. They gladly take out a loan for restrooms and then put in machines for food and stuff, gift cards, and a giftshop. IBIS World (Industry Market Research, Reports, & Statistics) rated gift shops to be a $14 Billion dollar a year industry. https://www.ibisworld.com

The problem is there is no road expansion.

They increased the turnpike cost to over $600 Million! With the construction of more toll booths and rest areas (with no free drinks). There were 6 toll booths, now there are 18. That is more manpower to buy, more cameras, etc. But, no road expansion!

Essentially, the toll booths are franchises.

I don’t know what happened to it, but even in the 1980’s West Virginia was said to replace the Turnpike Commission.

I’ve driven this many times and I have driven around the turnpike many times. I’d rather drive around it. I actually find it quicker! The turnpike is SO busy!

My last trip through the turnpike had me lose 30 minutes of driving time! I gained a whopping 10 minutes of driving time before that! So, the turnpike cost me 40 minutes of driving time. When I drove around it I lost only gas stops. I lost 0 minutes. To be honest, both ways were about the same, timewise.

The Turnpike Commission needs to expand the road into a 6-way highway! They only have few spots where it is a 6-way. In many areas, the shoulder is almost as wide as the road itself…

So, they plan on keeping the money for the commission and not helping the turnpike.

I just drove this last week. No road construction with two years of $4.00 tolls.

The revenue will increase, from $93.2 million in 2018 to $113.3 million in 2019, according to information Barr provided. https://www.ttnews.com/articles/west-virginia-turnpike-tolls-double

According to The Herald-Dispatch of Huntington, the West Virginia Parkways Authority says toll revenues from June 27 through July 7 registered at more than $5.6 million. Last year, $3.2 million was generated during a comparable 11-day Fourth of July travel window. https://www.wdtv.com/content/news/West-Virginia-Turnpike-Fourth-of-July-toll-revenue-increases-512685011.html

Okay, so the modernization project costs $600 Million, they can pay that back in 7 years. How many of us would love to pay even our homes back in 10 years!

For Those That Disagree

For those that disagree with me:

• Greensboro, NC, where I live, has an area with a 10-lane highway. We have 11 exits in total for just Greensboro, at least one exit every 2 minutes. And Greensboro is always expanding https://www.greensboro-nc.gov/Home/ShowDocument?id=15795.

Why does the Turnpike Commission not turn over control to the cities? Maybe we will have at least several 6-lane highways if they did.

What are your Turnpike Stories?

Thanks for reading and Thanks for the claps (especially the 50 claps)!

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