Tag: West Virginia Turnpike

Commission Recommends Increase in Fees, Road Bond to Fund W.Va. Road Projects

Members of the Governor’s Blue Ribbon Commission on Highways released their final recommendations Wednesday after a 20 month delay.

The commission was charged by Gov. Tomblin in 2012 with finding new revenue sources for the state’s aging roadways.

The 57 page report recommends lawmakers increase DMV fees and the state sales tax on motor vehicles. Those two increases, along with a new annual fee on alternative fuel vehicles, would create more than $115 million in new revenue.

Commission members also recommend diverting the consumer sales taxes paid on car parts and services from the general revenue fund to the state Road Fund for an additional $25 million gain.

The largest, and most controversial, recommendation calls on lawmakers to keep tolls in place on the West Virginia Turnpike inevitably, leveraging the highway to float a $1 billion road bond for new construction across the state.

“The very last study, which was done in 2010, showed that 74 percent of the tolls that are paid on the Turnpike are paid by out-of-state drivers,” Commission Chair and Secretary of the Department of Administration Jason Pizatella said after the report’s release,

Pizatella said if sucha  project is approved, 25 percent of the bonds funds would be dedicated to construction projects in the four counties that house the turnpike. They include Kanawha, Raleigh, Mercer and Fayette.

W.Va. Turnpike Traffic Up This Holiday Season

Low gas prices and favorable weather added up to more holiday travelers on the West Virginia Turnpike.

Parkways Authority General Manager Greg Barr says the 10-day Christmas Travel period starting Dec. 19 saw 1,067,818 toll transactions. That’s up nearly 16,000 transactions from 2013.

Barr told The Charleston Gazette lower gas prices influenced holiday travelers. Nationally, gas prices for holiday travel fell to their lowest levels since 2008, according to AAA.

Warmer and snow-free weather conditions also helped.

Christmas Day was the least-traveled, with only about 54,000 transactions.

Turnpike Holiday Traffic Up Compared to 2013

Traffic on the West Virginia Turnpike rose during the Thanksgiving holiday compared to a year ago.

Media outlets report that traffic along the 88-mile highway for the six-day period ending Sunday increased 8 percent compared with the 2013 period. Sunday was the busiest travel day.

West Virginia Parkways Authority toll director Steve Maynard says the number of toll transactions was below the Thanksgiving period in 2010, 2011 and 2012.

W.Va. Turnpike Prepares for Holiday Travel Surge

The West Virginia Turnpike is preparing for its busiest travel period.
 
The turnpike’s governing agency, the West Virginia Parkways Authority, plans to fully staff all three toll plazas along the 88-mile highway during the Thanksgiving travel period’s peak hours. There also will be temporary toll booths with additional collectors.

But Parkways general manager Greg Barr tells the Charleston Daily Mail that the extra help might not be enough.
 
Barr says a toll plaza might be able to handle about 2,000 transactions an hour. During peak hours, traffic is typically heavier.
 
The turnpike typically has two peak periods. One is between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. Wednesday. The other is between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. on Sunday.
 
Barr advises motorists to avoid traveling during the peak periods.

Toll Revenue Up on W.Va. Turnpike

Traffic on the West Virginia Turnpike has hit a high for the year.

The Register-Herald reports the Parkways Authority collected more than $8 million in June. That’s the most revenue for that month in a four-year period.

For the year, toll revenues are up 1.4 percent so far. Toll revenues decreased to a low of $6.5 million in February due to winter weather.

The authority also reported Thursday that sales at Tamarack decreased 10 percent in June. Last year’s total sales were $6.4 million, and sales for each month this year have lagged behind last year’s numbers. 

W.Va. Turnpike July 4 Traffic Up More Than Two Percent

  Toll workers on the West Virginia Turnpike handled more than 1 million transactions during the Fourth of July holiday period.

Traffic on the 88-mile toll road was up more than 2 percent compared to the same 11-day period in 2013.

Turnpike officials use an 11-day window to measure the holiday’s traffic because July 4 falls on a different day of the week each year.

Parkways Authority general manager Greg Barr says the heaviest traffic was on Sunday. Toll booths recorded about 164,000 transactions on Sunday.

Barr says the increase is due to several factors, including a three-day holiday weekend for many and traffic traveling to and from the Greenbrier Classic golf tournament at The Greenbrier in White Sulphur Springs.

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