I77 through WV and VA!

Have traveled I-77 a few times and idt is getting better than it was. I used to think that in the snow was the best time to travel that route because the snow would fill in the chuck holes. Last time that was was not too bad. I think for pickup and trailer it was $1.75 so would toss about $10 to travel the turnpike part. Good Luck and Safe travels.

I grew up in Chas WV. As a kid, I didn't know what the term "turnpike" meant. I thought it had something to do with all the twists and turns of that road. What I recall is my dad giving the 18 wheelers a wide berth in the turns. There were a lot of accidents on that road. I must say, I do miss the memorial tunnel though. On the rare occasion I have to travel that road these days, I'm always scoping out the old tunnel entrance.

NashTT wrote:
I used to live across the river from the turnpike near Charleston, and one Sunday evening my neighbor and I counted only the semi trucks (paying $18 a pop) going by for an hour. During that hour they netted over $20,000. When the road was originally built the toll was to be charged only until the debt was paid. Politics at its finest.

The Feds came in with FHWA dollars and it was upgraded to Interstate standards from end to end and eliminating the tunnel as you stated. Then in the mid to late 80's they were within a few million of paying off the original bonds for the original construction. In order to keep the Turnpike Commission in existence and the tolls on the Turnpike the collective "wisdom" of the powers that be decided to pay the Feds back for the cost of the upgrade. SO in order to repay the Feds the $138 million upgrade cost they sold bonds again and thus the Turnpike Commission and tolls were safe for a few decades longer.

Ya i could see that highway being dangerous years ago before the new roads! It definitely requires your attention! And the views coming down into NC are amazing!

Glad i planned that route!

Didn't want to offend anyone, but a large majority of the fatalities on the old turnpike were from North Carolina and Ohio, and they seemed to happen on those three laned sections. When I was young, my father would avoid the turnpike even though it probably added over an hour to the trip. That old road was really treacherous in winter at the higher elevations. The bridges would freeze quickly, black ice before there was a term for it.

NashTT wrote:
"Do they still have some sections that are 3 lanes (instead of 4)? That's what it was like years ago when we drove it one time thru WV. The canyons were so narrow they couldn't fit 4 lanes across in them."

They eliminated the three lane sections back in the early 80's. Those sections got more people killed than you could ever imagine. The idea was one lane north, one lane south and a shared passing lane. It was not a slow traffic lane added. They used federal money to upgrade the entire road and eliminate the old two lane tunnel completely.
I used to live across the river from the turnpike near Charleston, and one Sunday evening my neighbor and I counted only the semi trucks (paying $18 a pop) going by for an hour. During that hour they netted over $20,000. When the road was originally built the toll was to be charged only until the debt was paid. Politics at its finest.

I think WSAZ Television started calling it "The Highway of Death" when I was a boy in the late 70s... I remember heading through as a kid on my way to the beach, all the trucks, tunnels. All the construction!

Today's turnpike through WV is a completely different beast. It's still not flat and straight road by any means, but, it's a four lane highway now, with climbing/truck lanes. If you go make sure to stop at the Tamarack artisan center near Beckley.

"Do they still have some sections that are 3 lanes (instead of 4)? That's what it was like years ago when we drove it one time thru WV. The canyons were so narrow they couldn't fit 4 lanes across in them."

They eliminated the three lane sections back in the early 80's. Those sections got more people killed than you could ever imagine. The idea was one lane north, one lane south and a shared passing lane. It was not a slow traffic lane added. They used federal money to upgrade the entire road and eliminate the old two lane tunnel completely.
I used to live across the river from the turnpike near Charleston, and one Sunday evening my neighbor and I counted only the semi trucks (paying $18 a pop) going by for an hour. During that hour they netted over $20,000. When the road was originally built the toll was to be charged only until the debt was paid. Politics at its finest.

Just went that route the first part of June on our way to Fort Wilderness at Disney. There are sections with a third lane for trucks that will have to climb really slow. My truck sure had all it wanted getting up a couple of them at speed. The fog is the real danger in summer most of the time along with crosswinds. We stayed overnight at the Fancy Gap KOA and the fog was thick enough to cut with a knife that morning. On a clear day the view coming down into North Carolina is stunning. We had pea soup. Also the highway in NC was so bumpy that the kids dubbed them the worst highways of the whole trip! We took a different route home (via the Smokys) and the DS noted, thank goodness we don't have to go through NC again. LOL

Do they still have some sections that are 3 lanes (instead of 4)? That's what it was like years ago when we drove it one time thru WV. The canyons were so narrow they couldn't fit 4 lanes across in them.