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Parkways,
Ecomonic Development and Tourism Authority
The West Virginia Turnpike is a four-lane toll highway, 88 miles in length,
between Princeton and Charleston, West Virginia. The entire length of
the turnpike carries Interstate 77; Interstate 64 is carried from Charleston
to south of Beckley.
- The turnpike traverses mountainous terrain that required grades of
up to five percent and the movement of 70 million cubic yards of earth.
- Climbs from an elevation of 600 feet at Charleston to an elevation
of 3400 feet at Flat Top Mountain.
- The Turnpike has 116 bridges, more than one every mile.
- Three of its major bridges were named for native West Virginia military
heroes, Congressional Medal of Honor winners Sergeant Cornelius Charlton
and Sergeant Stanley Bender and noted aviation pioneer, Brigadier General
Charles E. (Chuck) Yeager, the first to penetrate the sound barrier.
- In addition to providing the traveler with the most direct route south
from the Great Lakes and regions of Canada, the Turnpike carries Interstate
64 to south of Beckley, where it provides a much-needed east-west route
as well.
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