Published: June 28, 2009 08:38 pm      

Toll vote nears

CHARLESTON — Another chapter in its storied and, on occasion, controversial history is about to be penned for the West Virginia Turnpike on Wednesday.

Carved through some of the more rugged terrain east of the Mississippi River half a century ago, the 88-mile toll road is on the verge of demanding a little more pocket change from its users each time they pass through a collection barrier.

Once dubbed “a modern engineering miracle” by a national publication, the Princeton-to-Charleston highway has fallen on hard times.

Rising fuel prices and a national recession have combined to drain the road’s income, and with pressure mounting to meet the debt coverage test of an assured money stream to satisfy bond holders, the governing board, the West Virginia Parkways Authority, is about to raise the tolls.

That decision is not coming without controversy.

Southern lawmakers have steadfastly resisted the increase, arguing the state let millions of dollars the Turnpike helped draw down in federal dollars over the years be spent on other Interstate highways.

A toll increase has been rumored for more than a year, as financial hardships began to haunt the authority and the road began slipping into disrepair. News reporters were given a two-day tour last spring to see firsthand the advanced state of deterioration — from original concrete when the highway opened in 1954, to worn bridges and rotting culverts underneath it.

Add to that some $238 million in deferred maintenance over a five-year period, and the turnpike’s situation grows even bleaker.

“We’re in a crisis,” board member Victor Grigoraci observed at a recent meeting.

So much interest has been fueled by the turnpike that the board is moving its normal meeting location from the main offices to the Charleston Civic Center to accommodate an anticipated well of news reporters and interested citizens.

That alone prompted one lawmaker, Senate Minority Leader Don Caruth, R-Mercer, to complain the move was engineered to minimize the turnout by the opposition. Caruth also charged that Gov. Joe Manchin, as chairman of the authority, was orchestrating the toll increase and directing members how to vote — a claim Manchin strongly denied.

Before the board gets around to raising tolls — the first enduring one since 1981 — turnpike Manager Greg Barr says it might take up two other issues, a $200,000 project to correct a slide prompted by heavy rains near the Sharon exit, and the renewal of a $750,000 bridge retrofit contract for another year.

A final item is on the agenda, one that cannot be handled until the toll increase is approved — acceptance of a new budget.

Tolls went up briefly New Year’s Day in 2006 in a decision made without public notice, only to be disallowed a few weeks later in a ruling by a Kanawha County circuit judge, deciding a class action lawsuit by trucking firms.

Now, the same levels of fares are being sought — boosting passenger cars from $1.25 per barrier to $2 and commercial rigs from $4.75 to $6.25. Across the board, that amounts to a 60 percent hike, designed to capture an additional $20 million in revenues. Broken down, $5 million would be dedicated to the bond indebtedness, and the rest toward highway upkeep.

The board plans to provide two discount programs to give Turnpike users a break.

One of them, known as Discount Plan One, now in effect, will not change from its current status. With a transponder, motorists pay a flat fee for unlimited use of the road.

Under Discount Plan Two, also handled via an E-Z Pass transponder, a motorist will pay only $1.50 per barrier, rather than $2, using an account set up in advance into which deposits can be made, as needed, depending on how much travel is required. For instance, if a consumer is out of town and the account is low, all it takes is a call to customer services to use a debit or credit card to add more funds.

“And we now have a discount for commercial users,” Barr said.

“We’re looking at a pretty sizable discount. Instead of $6.75, you would only pay around $5.06 with an E-Z Pass.”

The Turnpike was built for $133 million, linking southern regions with Charleston and accelerating an economic expansion that allowed commercial traffic to haul goods over a shorter, quicker route.

But with the influx of traffic, fatal accidents began to proliferate, and the road soon earned a nickname as “a death trap.” Within two decades after its opening, plans were laid to expand it into a four-lane highway as part of the burgeoning Interstate network of roads.

Yet, no controversy surrounding the turnpike has been as intense and sustained as the one over the impending toll increase.

Another lawmaker, Delegate Clif Moore, D-McDowell, has vowed to block the Ghent toll plaza with a car on the very day the new tolls are in force as a measure of protest. And the historic meeting Wednesday could prove a major draw at the Civic Center.

“We really don’t know what to expect,” Barr said.

— Contact Mannix Porterfield at mannix

@register-herald.com