I77 through WV and VA!
Holy, WOW! the Rockies have nothing on the Appalachians! they may have the height, but man what a drive! I don`t remember those long grades when I went out west? the one section in VA had 3 runaway tr...
Forum Discussion
NashTT wrote: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.
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.
