West Virginia Turnpike - Future of The Turnpike

Future of The Turnpike

The Parkways Authority briefly raised toll rates on January 1, 2006, but a state judge found the hike to be illegal, rescinding it a few days later. The state legislature subsequently affirmed the judge's decision, and removed the Commission's power to set rates, reserving that power to itself.

Greg Barr, General Manager of the West Virginia Parkways Authority, has said that while other states have dramatically increased their tolls over the past few years, the West Virginia Turnpike has not experienced any rate hikes in over two decades. "

After nearly six decades as the only toll road in West Virginia, the West Virginia section of the Mon–Fayette Expressway opened on July 11, 2011 from near Morgantown to the Mason–Dixon Line. While the Pennsylvania section of the Mon–Fayette Expressway is tolled and maintained by the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission, in West Virginia legislators have flip-flopped a few times regarding whether their section will be a toll road. When tolls were first proposed, West Virginia had planned to work with the PTC to collect tolls at the existing Pennsylvania mainline plaza, but this plan was not accepted by the West Virginia Legislature. Instead, West Virginia planned to construct a toll plaza north of Goodwin Hill Road. West Virginia officials also contemplated whether to use all-electronic tolling or a more traditional tolling scheme. In the end, tolling plans were scrapped by West Virginia's legislature, leaving the West Virginia Turnpike as the state's only toll road. Rejection resulted from concerns related to camera enforcement, billing, and operational costs. However, West Virginia reserves the right to levy tolls in the future if these issues are settled.