BY CHRIS LAWRENCE
CHARLESTON — The Memorial Day weekend begins today for the West Virginia Turnpike. There is a five-day travel period for the bulk of holiday travel on the road bisecting southern West Virginia through three toll gates.
“Our biggest day out of those five will be Friday and we’ll have about 155,000 (vehicles).” said Steve Maynard, director of Tolls for the West Virginia Parkways Authority.
The total travel volume over the five-day period is expected to be in the neighborhood of 600,000 vehicles on the highway. According to Maynard, that’s not far off the 2022 level.
Maynard said history has taught them how to be most efficient and to have the right staffing levels on hand and for operations in progress.
“We have extra management personnel, we have extra toll collectors we bring in and we’ll have all toll lanes open all the time, with the exception of one EZ Pass lane,” he said.
The West Virginia Turnpike is a major north-south artery for those traveling to holiday destinations from all across the eastern United States.
