WV toll hike likely

The state governor's representative at the West Virginia Turnpike says a toll increase is needed. Joe Martin, the chairman of the Turnpike's board is quoted in the local press: "At some point in the near future a toll increase will be necessary."

Martin as Turnpike chairman is the Governor's representative and serves at the Governor's pleasure.

But there is no specific toll hike proposal so far.

Toll rates on the West Virginia Turnpike are a maximum of 4.3c/mile (2.7c/km) for cars and 14.5c/mile (9c/km) for tractor-trailers. Many trips are toll-free because of the lack of adequate toll points. On the 88 miles (142km) of the Turnpike there are 16 segments between access/egress points and three mainline toll points and one ramp or side plaza. 13 segments comprising 64 miles of the total 88 miles or nearly three quarters can be used without toll payment.

Toll rates have been stuck on the WV Turnpike since 1981, during which time a dollar has declined in purchasing power to 41c.

see http://www.westegg.com/inflation/

The Turnpike actually increased tolls January 1 2006 by 60% but there was an uproar in the legislature with two bills introduced to rollback the raise. Then a judge issued an injunction  against the toll increases, and the Turnpike gave up the battle after just a few weeks of the higher tolls.

They went back to their 1981 levels.

Third laning, deferred maintenance

Needed capital projects include widening to 3 lanes each direction on a busy 12.6km (7.8mi) stretch between I-64 and US19 in the Beckley area. There is also a designed but unfunded spur connection and $100m of deferred maintenance.

Traffic is presently down 5 to 6% on last year due to the economy. Toll revenues on the pike last year were $58m/yr based on an average daily 96.5k toll transactions of which 22.6k were trucks. The Turnpike denoted I-77 and in part also I-64 is a major route through the Appalachians between the midwest and the mid-Atlantic.

Toll traffic on the Turnpike last year was 948m vehicle-miles (1.53b veh-km) of which 333m veh-miles (0.54b veh-km) or 35% was truck traffic. Untolled traffic is not reported.

I-64 goes from the Tidewater area of Virgina (Hampton Roads/Norfolk) through Kentucky to St Louis, while I-77 goes from South Carolina to Cleveland OH.

The nearest competing routes of similar expressway standard through the Appalachians are I-75 in Kentucky and Tennessee about 170 miles (270km) to the southwest of the WV Turnpike and i-68 in Maryland about 180 miles (285km) to its northeast.

http://www.wvturnpike.com/

Review of the Turnpike by PRAG consultants from Feb 2007

http://www.wvturnpike.com/PDFfiles/WestVirginiaTurnpikeFinalReport.pdf

The glaring defect of the PRAG report is the failure to discuss alternatives to the Turnpike's present "collander toll system" in which 13 of the 16 legs of the Turnpike earn no revenues. A move to all-electronic tolling of the kind being undertaken by Miami-Dade Expressway would allow all legs to be tolled, spreading costs more fairly over all users.

On the last attempt at a toll increase

http://www.tollroadsnews.com/node/1431

TOLLROADSnews 2008-12-01