The West Virginia Turnpike saw an uptick in travelers over the Memorial Day holiday weekend compared to 2022.
There were 574,902 total transactions on the turnpike from Thursday, May 25, 2023 to Monday, May 29, 2023, up 0.93% from 2022’s total of 569,579 transactions.
“As expected, Memorial Day weekend brought a large volume of traffic across the WV Turnpike,” said Jeff Miller, Executive Director of the West Virginia Parkways Authority. “This kicks off our busy summer travel season. On Friday, we saw a 50% increase in travel over an average day and the total for the five-day period was nearly 600,000 vehicles.”
On Friday, May 26, 2023, there were 150,233 transactions across the turnpike’s three plazas - the busiest travel day of the weekend. 128,542 transactions occurred on Thursday while 108,622 transactions occurred on Monday. On Saturday, May 27, 2023, the turnpike completed 103,212 transactions. Sunday, May 28, 2023, was the least traveled day of the holiday weekend with 84,293 transactions.
“I’m very proud of the team as operations ran very smooth through the toll plazas, courtesy patrol, State Police, and dispatch center,” said Miller.
There were minimal traffic delays on the turnpike during the five-day period. Five accidents occurred, several single vehicle accidents, during the holiday weekend on the turnpike.