Bypassing tolls on WV Tpk while going south?
H.B. Elkins
you are traveling from Charleston to Beckley?
I may be roadtripping down that way next week and wouldn't mind seeing how this
is done on a first-hand basis.
I'm really only interested in bypassing the tolls and then re-entering the
turnpike ASAP, not using a free parallel road for the entire length.
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kh...@jersey.net
wrote:
Well, you could start by looking at a map.......
elaich
news:es73f...@drn.newsguy.com:
> Can anyone (Arif?) tell me how to bypass two toll plazas on the WV
> Turnpike if you are traveling from Charleston to Beckley?
Do you really think the state would allow this to be so easy?
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Arif Khokar
> Can anyone (Arif?) tell me how to bypass two toll plazas on the WV
> Turnpike if you are traveling from Charleston to Beckley?
You can take exit 85 (Marmet) just before the first toll. IIRC, you'll
be able to take a right hand turn before crossing the bridge there to
get to WV 61. Then it's a simple matter of following the road until you
get to another traffic light. If you take a right there onto Cabin
Creek Rd. at that light, you'll go through an underpass. Keep driving
down that road and you'll pass through a small trailer park and
eventually reach a railroad crossing. You should be able to see the
turnpike from here and getting back on shouldn't be a problem.
To bypass the second toll near Mossy, take exit 60 (Pax). After you
cross over the turnpike, take a right onto WV 612. Here you have two
options. You can continue on 612 until you reach Oakhill and get onto
US 19 South near Beckley. The other option is to take a right turn
almost as soon as you get onto 612 onto a one lane road (Paint Creek
road according to Google maps). Keep following that road (don't turn
off it) for about 15 minutes, and you'll eventually reach the first
interchange right after the second toll.
As for the third toll (and I know you're not going that far), the only
way to bypass it is to take US 19 until you reach Ghent. This is the
one toll I usually don't bother bypassing unless it's in the middle of
the night and I can go a bit faster.
H.B. Elkins
>
>H.B. Elkins <hbel...@mis.net.restrictorplate> wrote in
>news:es73f...@drn.newsguy.com:
>
>> Can anyone (Arif?) tell me how to bypass two toll plazas on the WV
>> Turnpike if you are traveling from Charleston to Beckley?
>
>Do you really think the state would allow this to be so easy?
I have seen it mentioned here before that it can be done. The county routes that
parallel the turnpike in that area are certainly not suitable for truck traffic,
and long-distance travelers are not going to make the effort to bypass the toll
plazas, but there are probably some local motorists who do so.
The roadgeek in me wants to check these alternate routes out.
H.B. Elkins
>To bypass the second toll near Mossy, take exit 60 (Pax). After you
>cross over the turnpike, take a right onto WV 612. Here you have two
>options. You can continue on 612 until you reach Oakhill and get onto
>US 19 South near Beckley. The other option is to take a right turn
>almost as soon as you get onto 612 onto a one lane road (Paint Creek
>road according to Google maps). Keep following that road (don't turn
>off it) for about 15 minutes, and you'll eventually reach the first
>interchange right after the second toll.
I've driven WV 612 a couple of times before.
I can never remember if the second toll booth is between the Mossy and Pax
exits, or between the US 19 Corridor D exit and Pax.
But looking at some of my own photos tells me that the toll booth is between
Mossy and Pax.
I'm guessing the best place to get back on going south past the first toll booth
is at Exit 79 (the Sharon exit).
Is it even possible to parallel the entire turnpike on surface routes?
And what's the best way to get to the Memorial Tunnel portal?
SP Cook
wrote:
>
> Is it even possible to parallel the entire turnpike on surface routes?
>
> And what's the best way to get to the Memorial Tunnel portal?
>
Well, broadly, one can take US 19 from Princeton to Beckley, and WV 61
from just north of the first toll booth to Charleston, but there is
not direct parallel road system between those points.
The best way to get to the Memorial Tunner portal, is to just take the
exit just north of it and follow the signs, but the place is fenced
off. National security.
SP Cook
Arif Khokar
> But looking at some of my own photos tells me that the toll booth is between
> Mossy and Pax.
That's correct, and exit 60 is actually Mossy, not Pax (which is exit
54, IIRC).
> I'm guessing the best place to get back on going south past the first toll booth
> is at Exit 79 (the Sharon exit).
Yes, but it is possible to continue on WV 61 until you get to Paint
Creek road (WV 81) and drive down that until you get to the interchange
past Sharon (I forget what it's called). I actually did that by mistake
the first time I attempted to bypass the toll near Charleston. It's a
wonder I didn't get lost ;)
> Is it even possible to parallel the entire turnpike on surface routes?
Going through Google maps, it appears to be possible to stay more or
less parallel to the turnpike on Paint Creek road and by switching roads
several times (after passing the second toll booth), even past Beckley
until you get to Harper Rd. and following WV 3 till you get to US 19.
You'd be in for quite a long drive if you tried to do it.
Sherman L. Cahal
I recalled several one-lane bridges and curves that made for a slow,
but scenic, drive.
H.B. Elkins
>Yes, but it is possible to continue on WV 61 until you get to Paint
>Creek road (WV 81) and drive down that until you get to the interchange
>past Sharon (I forget what it's called). I actually did that by mistake
>the first time I attempted to bypass the toll near Charleston. It's a
>wonder I didn't get lost ;)
I think that's the Mahan exit. There is signage on the Turnpike that this exit
(the one immediately south of the tunnel) is also for Montgomery and WVU Tech.
I chuckle every time I go through there, there was an elected official where I
used to live named Sharon Mahan and the two successive exits on the Turnpike are
for the communities of Sharon and Mahan.
>Going through Google maps, it appears to be possible to stay more or
>less parallel to the turnpike on Paint Creek road and by switching roads
>several times (after passing the second toll booth), even past Beckley
>until you get to Harper Rd. and following WV 3 till you get to US 19.
>You'd be in for quite a long drive if you tried to do it.
I checked the online West Virginia county maps. It is possible to pretty much
parallel the turnpike and stay within sight of it all the way from south of the
tunnel to somewhere south of the Pax exit. There are a couple of alternatives
after that. One takes you over to WV 16 at the exit where the US 19 spur begins.
Another takes you to near Tamarack. You can cross the turnpike and head into
Beckley, or you can drive in behind Tamarack and come out on WV 3. In fact,
there is a sign within the Tamarack parking lot, "To WV 3" with the requisite
arrow.
