Turnpike reminds drivers to renew
Newsroom@DominionPost.com
CHARLESTON — Beginning Jan. 1, drivers who took advantage of West Virginia’s E-ZPass Single Fee Discount Plan will be able to renew their plans for one year for $26.25. If a patron has a valid, unexpired credit card on file, the E-ZPass will be renewed automatically. The E-ZPass gives drivers of the West Virginia Turnpike unlimited use of the Turnpike for an annual fee.
On Jan. 1, the cash toll for Class I passenger vehicles will be adjusted to $4.25 per toll booth as provided for in legislation passed by the West Virginia Legislature.
The legislation creating the West Virginia E-ZPass Single Fee Discount Program provides for periodic adjustment of rates. The Parkways Authority thus included periodic inflation adjustments in its June 2018 schedule of tolls and discounts, including a five percent inflation adjustment in the cost of the West Virginia E-ZPass Discount Program for Class I passenger vehicles every three years, and a 1.6 per cent per year inflation adjustment in cash tolls every year, rounded to the nearest quarter, starting Jan. 1.
Under the adjusted fee schedule, passenger cars, pickup trucks, motorcycles and passenger vans will pay $4.25 per mainline toll booth beginning Jan. 1. Cars or trucks pulling a trailer and motor homes will pay $5.25. Motor homes pulling a trailer will pay $6.75.
Larger trucks will pay between $6.75 and $25.25 depending on the number of axles on the vehicles.
Discounted commercial E-ZPass plans are also available.
For Class I passenger vehicles, the E-ZPass Single Fee Discount Plan has been a great deal.
“Prior to this program, an E-ZPass could cost $300-plus a year for access to all three main toll plazas,” said West Virginia Parkways Authority Executive Director Jeff Miller. “We absolutely encourage all Class 1 passenger vehicle drivers to take advantage of the E-ZPass Single Fee Discount Plan.”
Gov. Jim Justice announced the E-ZPass Single Fee Discount Plan in 2018 to give eligible drivers of the West Virginia Turnpike an opportunity to save on the cost of tolls. The previous year, West Virginia voters approved the sale of $1.6 billion in highway bonds as part of Governor Justice’s Roads To Prosperity highway construction and maintenance program. As part of that program, tolls on the turnpike were raised from $2 to $4 per passenger car for cars without this West Virginia E-ZPass. The program was set to include a five percent increase in the cost of the West Virginia E-ZPass discount program for Class I passenger vehicles every three years.
For frequent turnpike drivers who selected the option of saving money with the E-ZPass, the cost dropped. Drivers recognized significant savings. “As a frequent driver of the turnpike myself, I experienced that reduced fee as the lifting of a burden,” Miller said. “As a young college student, I had to shoulder that burden, but now when the $0.00 flashes each time I drive through I know the burden has been lifted for drivers who rely on the Turnpike every day.”
“The benefits of the West Virginia E-ZPass program far exceed the cost, particularly compared to any other national toll discount program that exists,” Miller said. “After just two round trips on the West Virginia Turnpike, the E-ZPass pays for itself. The governor’s visionary idea for this program will pay dividends long into the future.”
As an incentive to join the program, about 180,000 people who signed on early for the E-ZPass Single Fee Discount Program had unlimited use of the turnpike for three years, at a flat rate of $24. Those who joined after January 2019 paid $25 a year.
Anyone renewing or signing up for the West Virginia E-ZPass Single Fee Discount Program for Class I passenger vehicles after Jan. 1 will now pay $26.25 a year.
Not only has the program saved West Virginians money, but by issuing new bonds supported by net turnpike toll revenues, it has also provided funding for other road projects in the 10 counties surrounding the West Virginia Turnpike.
Three years into the program, West Virginia is reaping the economic rewards. With over 75% of tolls collected paid by out-of-state and commercial drivers, the program has funded $595 million in highway projects in those 10 counties.
In 2018, the Parkways Authority approved an initial bond sale of $172 million to help the West Virginia Division of Highways pay for projects in Fayette, Greenbrier, Kanawha, McDowell, Mercer, Monroe, Nicholas, Raleigh, Summers and Wyoming counties, as authorized by state law.
In June 2021, the Parkways Authority sold its second issue of toll revenue bonds. Investor response was so strong that the sale was able to generate $423 million in bond proceeds, $90 million more than had originally been planned.
That money is now being used to pay for 23 separate projects in the 10 counties surrounding the turnpike. Those projects include:
- The complete replacement of 15 different bridges.
- Construction of the four-lane Coalfields Expressway.
- Major upgrades and construction on Beckley’s Z-Way project.
- Reconstruction of MacCorkle Avenue in Kanawha City.
Construction of the RHL Boulevard connector to alleviate traffic congestion on Jefferson Road and Corridor G in Kanawha County.
To get an E-ZPass, or to renew an existing E-ZPass, visit wvturnpike.com. Drivers may also apply in person at the West Virginia Parkways Authority E-ZPass Customer Service Center, 3310 Piedmont Road, Charleston, West Virginia 25306, or at the Beckley Customer Service Center located at 12 Pikeview Drive, Beckley, West Virginia 25801.
If a patron has a valid, unexpired credit card on file, the E-ZPass will be renewed automatically. The E-ZPass Single Fee Discount Plan is good for one year after signing up, so if drivers sign up in March, their E-ZPass will be good until the following March.
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