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The short drive to Charleston just got a lot more expensive (West Virginia toll hike)
The Bluefield Daily Telegraph ^ | June 20, 2018 | Charles Owens

Posted on 08/25/2018 9:59:07 PM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks

So tolls will soon be increasing along the 88-mile West Virginia Turnpike. This doesn’t come as much of a surprise, as the move to double tolls had gained significant momentum in recent months.

Years ago, there appeared to be a solid push among lawmakers in the deep south counties to eliminate tolls once the original bond indebtedness associated with the construction of the turnpike expired. But a number of factors, including the state’s budget crisis in 2017, derailed those efforts.

Members of the West Virginia Parkways Authority Board voted on June 7 to double tolls effective Jan. 1, 2019. The move will mark the first toll hike along the turnpike since 2009 when tolls increased by 75 cents.

Tolls are being raised so that the Parkways Authority can sell bonds for road projects throughout southern West Virginia. The goal is to eventually sell $330 million of the bonds, starting with $170 million in July.

Among those projects that will be funded by the bonds is the long-delayed King Coal Highway project in Mercer County. That will allow for construction on a 3.8 mile section of the future Interstate 73/74/75 corridor in Mercer County, connecting Bluefield’s so-called Bridge to Nowhere to the area of Route 123 and the Mercer County Airport. Once finished it will create a usable segment of the King Coal Highway in Mercer County.

So there is some good that will come out of the doubling of tolls. Still, the toll hike is a tough pill for some to swallow. Members of the Parkways Authority have long argued that the largest percentage of travelers along the turnpike are from out-of-state. That is a true statement. But area residents also travel the toll road to reach Beckley and Charleston.

Many in our region travel to Beckley on occasion for a short “out of town” trip. Some now may opt to avoid traveling to our sister city in order to avoid tolls. Other regional destinations without tolls, such as Christiansburg, Va., and Abingdon, Va., may now appear more attractive to some.

Of course the simplest solution to this predicament is the purchase of an EZ-Pass.

Drivers who frequently use the turnpike can choose to purchase an E-Z pass, which will cost $24 for unlimited use for three years. Those not already in the program would also pay a $13 one-time fee for a transponder. Transponders are attached above the rearview mirror, about 1 inch below the top of the front windshield.

But getting one may be easier said than done.

According to the Parkways Authority, at this time there are only two ways you can purchase an EZ-Pass.

The transponder must be purchased either at the authority’s Charleston office or online at wvturnpike.com. At this time there are no locations in Mercer County where an E-Z Pass can be purchased.

That doesn’t make any sense. Area residents should be able to purchase a transponder somewhere in Mercer County. Why not the Department of Motor Vehicle’s office in Princeton? Why not the Mercer County Courthouse? Why not city hall in Bluefield or Princeton?

Not everyone is comfortable with purchasing things online. Many prefer actual brick-and-mortar sites as opposed to using credit cards and other sensitive information online.

The Parkways Authority should act quickly to address this obvious oversight. Of course folks who already have an E-Z Pass have nothing to worry about. Their accounts will automatically be billed the $24 and their transponders will be reprogrammed.

If you don’t purchase an E-Z Pass, and must travel to Beckley or Charleston next year, be prepared to pay more in tolls. Effective Jan. 1, 2019, a round trip to Charleston will cost $24. The current cost is $12.

That’s a big increase. Better buy an E-Z Pass if you plan on making the drive to Charleston on a regular basis.

Now, if I could just find one locally ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Crime/Corruption; Editorial; Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; US: West Virginia
KEYWORDS: bluefield; charleston; construction; funding; infrastructure; tollhike; tolls; transportation; westvirginia; wvturnpike
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1 posted on 08/25/2018 9:59:07 PM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
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To: Tolerance Sucks Rocks

Where I’m from, toll bonds are NEVER retired. They are designed to be that way. They will still exist at least until the Universe achieves maximum entropy.


2 posted on 08/25/2018 10:07:51 PM PDT by The Antiyuppie ("When small men cast long shadows, then it is very late in the day")
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To: The Antiyuppie

Yes, people still think it is the old bond mechanism, when many of them now are simply private roads with eternal government kickbacks. They’ll neever be “paid off”.


3 posted on 08/25/2018 10:36:29 PM PDT by Psalm 144 (8/25/2018 - Smeagol plunges into the Crack of Doom, Hobbits enjoy second breakfast.)
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To: Tolerance Sucks Rocks

What a pack of greedy bastards our politicans have become!


4 posted on 08/25/2018 10:42:53 PM PDT by W. (Brap!)
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To: Tolerance Sucks Rocks

Last I knew there was a frontage road along the turnpike that one could drive for free.


5 posted on 08/25/2018 11:02:37 PM PDT by Greg123456
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To: Greg123456

#5. Not since you wrote this!!


6 posted on 08/25/2018 11:44:15 PM PDT by MadMax, the Grinning Reaper
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To: Tolerance Sucks Rocks

Tolls are one of the original American scams dating back to King George days. Nothing has changed except for roads and automobiles.


7 posted on 08/26/2018 12:09:07 AM PDT by shanover (...To disarm the people is the best and most effectual way to enslave them.-S.Adams)
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To: Tolerance Sucks Rocks

Connecticut citizens, LaMont wants tolls...(so he can spend more of your money!!!).


8 posted on 08/26/2018 3:51:06 AM PDT by Deplorable American1776 (Proud to be a DeplorableAmerican with a Deplorable Family...even the dog is, too. :-))
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To: Tolerance Sucks Rocks

https://ballotpedia.org/West_Virginia_state_budget_and_finances

Scroll down to spending by function. This hike ain’t about roads.


9 posted on 08/26/2018 3:58:54 AM PDT by mewzilla (Has the FBI been spying on members of Congress?)
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To: Tolerance Sucks Rocks

Does the WV Turnpike have a route number? In that whole article, only a WV insider would know what actual road they’re talking about.


10 posted on 08/26/2018 4:17:30 AM PDT by Tucker39 ("It is impossible to rightly govern a nation without God and the Bible." George Washington)
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To: Tolerance Sucks Rocks

“Tolls are being raised so that the Parkways Authority can sell bonds for road projects throughout southern West Virginia.”

Not to build the road, not to operate the road, not even to maintain the road - but to create a SLUSH FUND.

So much for the meme “Those who drive on the road, pay for the road”. Well, I guess they do, but they pay for MUCH MORE also (such as the Philadelphia and Pittsburgh transit systems when they drive on the Pennsylvania Turnpike).


11 posted on 08/26/2018 4:28:18 AM PDT by BobL (I drive a pick up truck because it makes me feel like a man)
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To: Tucker39

I-77


12 posted on 08/26/2018 4:30:38 AM PDT by Altura Ct.
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To: Tolerance Sucks Rocks

Taxes and tolls never go away


13 posted on 08/26/2018 5:03:21 AM PDT by albie
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To: Altura Ct.

The toll road is I 77 and I 64 combined from Beckley to Charleston.

As I recall, I 77 only sections are not tolled. Ditto I 64. The toll is when both are joined

However, the choice of paying double toll or driving on the terrible terrible West Virginia mountain roads the interstates replace is easy


14 posted on 08/26/2018 5:15:17 AM PDT by bert ((K.E. N.P. N.C. +12) Muller..... conspiracy to over throw the government)
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To: Tolerance Sucks Rocks
So,

Effective Jan. 1, 2019, a round trip to Charleston will cost $24. The current cost is $12.

So, it took him a while to get to the punchline. So, it was the second last sentence in the article. So, Charles Owens, is the guy with the enormous photo.

15 posted on 08/26/2018 5:50:11 AM PDT by Right Wing Assault (Kill-googl,TWITR,FACBK,NYT,WaPo,Hlywd,CNN,NFL,BLM,CAIR,Antifa,SPLC,ESPN,NPR,NBA)
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Harpers Ferry bump


16 posted on 08/26/2018 5:56:16 AM PDT by foreverfree
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To: Right Wing Assault

His info does not jive with the info on the turnpike website. It was not easy to find, but am unlimited pass is currently $25 per quarter or $95 per year. Three tolls gates are $2 each. I can’t tell if you just pay $2 To go the distance or if there are enroute travel barriers.


17 posted on 08/26/2018 6:15:44 AM PDT by Steven Scharf
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To: MadMax, the Grinning Reaper

I looked it up on Google maps. Frontage road is poor and broken in pieces.


18 posted on 08/26/2018 6:40:47 AM PDT by Greg123456
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To: The Antiyuppie

CT actually got rid of theirs. I was surprised and just a kid at the time.

My dad told me that these things, sold as temporary, never go away.

However, it sounds to me like they are seeing PA’s success with such a program. It costs about $25 to drive the PA pike from Harrisburg to Somerset and I think it’s like $32 to Pitt.

That’s one freakin’ way. And lemme tell you, the road still has traffic, still has construction.


19 posted on 08/26/2018 8:33:54 AM PDT by Celerity
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To: Altura Ct.

Thank you. I’ve been all over WV thru the years, but never had occasion to use their turnpike. Some wag once wrote a song, poking fun at the Pennsy Turnpike, “Pennsylvania Turnpike, I Can’t Get Over You,” telling all his problems on that road. The local Harrisburg morning radio guy, the late Ron Drake played that song whenever some turnpike issue was in the news. One thing that irritates me is the salaries the Turnpike Commissioners are rumored to pull down for very little effort.


20 posted on 08/26/2018 10:27:18 AM PDT by Tucker39 ("It is impossible to rightly govern a nation without God and the Bible." George Washington)
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