Roadtrip Report: KY-WV-PA
- From: H.B. Elkins <hbelkins@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: 30 Aug 2007 18:44:51 -0700
(This roadtrip, the report and the pics that will be posted later are all in
memory of Hemingway, our cat, who died last year just before I was planning to
make this trip, causing me to cancel; of Spike, our dog, who died earlier this
month on the eve of my planned departure on this trip, causing me to postpone;
and to Isabella a/k/a Itty Bitty, our cat who died yesterday, causing me to
delay the trip a day. We love and miss all three of you...)
Last year I planned to travel to the Pittsburgh area for the opening of the PA
Turnpike 576 route and the "open house" before the road was opened to traffic.
However, the lack of enthusiasm for planning a meet around that event caused my
interest in the trip to wane, and the illness and subsequent death of our cat
caused me to cancel it until this year. But I hit the road this morning and am
posting from just outside Pittsburgh.
KY 11 north, KY 715 north, KY 15 south, Mountain Parkway east, KY 205 north, US
460 east, KY 7 north, I-64 east, I-77 north, I-79 north, US 19 south, WV 55
east, WV 20 north, US 119 north, WV County 857 north (with various routes in the
Cheat Lake area to see the unopened Mon-Fayette Expressway), PA 857 north, Gans
Road west, PA 43 north, US 119 north, I-70 west, I-470 west, WV 2 north, US 22
east, PA Turnpike 576 west (although you are actually traveling northeast), PA
60 north, Business PA 60 south, PA 60 south to the hotel.
Not much new to report in the first four hours of the trip, although I got into
a pouring thunderstorm around Hurricane on I-64 and it didn't let up until well
past Charleston on I-79.
Something was going on between the US 119 Mink Shoals and WV 114 Big Chimney
exits on I-79 and a local TV station van was there. A flashing lane closure
arrow appeared to have been knocked over onto the side of the road so perhaps it
was a weather-related wreck.
I had traveled parts of US 19, WV 55 and WV 20 back in June but wanted to pick
up that section of WV 20 between Craigsville and Cowen that I had missed.
Spotted a sign goof on a mileage sign on WV 20 north/WV 15 west climbing the
hill out of Webster Springs. The mileages to Flatwoods and Buckhannon were
reversed.
Beyond Diana, where WV 15 and WV 20 split, the pavement quality of WV 20
improves and it's a long but not altogether unpleasant mountain drive. I was
surprised to find a WV Byway and Backway named "Mountain Parkway" and the logo
on those signs is about the closest thing you'll find to an original Kentucky
Mountain Parkway sign now that they have been replaced.
Picked up US 119 at Buckhannon and took it through Phillipi and Grafton to
Morgantown, completing the last remaining section of US highway in West Virginia
that I had not driven. As I reached Morgantown, another thunderstorm blew up
with torrential rain and lightning flashing directly overhead.
I drove across WV County 857, which is well-signed even with its multiplexes
with WV 7 and US 119. The section between US 119 west and WV 7 is known as Green
Bag Road, which is a rather unusual name for a road, I think.
I drove the old route down across the Cheat Lake bridge and found construction
on the east side of the lake. I don't know if it is related to the WV 43
Mon-Fayette Expressway construction or not.
I wandered off County 857, which was heavily traveled with many trucks, and
found a few completed sections of the Mon-Fayette, some with signs installed,
but saw no way to get to them. Finally found one spot where a big bridge is
being built, and then after I got back to 857 and headed north, I saw a big
bridge off in the distance to the left.
Once in Pennsylvania, it's not far to Gans Road and the PA TPK 43 interchange is
within view of PA 857 although the exit signs are for US 119, not PA 857 (857 to
I-68 is the best way to Morgantown instead of 119). There's a mainline toll
plaza with a cost of 75 cents.
Followed US 119 around Uniontown and through Connellsville and up to New
Stanton, where I navigated the complicated interchange and hit I-70 west, which
I drove all the way to I-470 in West Virginia, clinching I-70 in Pennsylvania.
Nearly all of I-70 in PA has a 55 MPH speed limit, but inexplicably it shrinks
to 45 mph in the Belle Vernon area where it crosses the Monongahela River.
Doesn't make sense to me; the quality of the road is the same. That section of
I-70 reminded me of the Turnpike, in a very narrow ROW and a Jersey barrier
right up against the fast lane. I noted some stop signs at the ends of entrance
ramps, specifically the PA 51 interchange. The jersey barrier runs until almost
the I-79 south split, and the speed limit finally goes up to 65 west of
Washington. In the 55 mph zone, I was doing around 65 mph and most traffic was
blowing by me at least 10 mph faster, including most trucks.
I took I-470 to WV 2 and took WV 2 north from Wheeling to Weirton as part of my
goal to clinch WV 2, which I should do on this trip on my return home. It's an
interesting drive, not as fast as four-lane OH 7 on the other side of the river,
but pleasant just the same. I noticed I-470 mile markers have been installed but
did not see any on the portion of I-70 that I was on.
US 22 was familiar territory, but I took the new TPK 576 to check out that road.
The direction I was traveling, from US 22 to the airport, was signed "West" but
I was really traveling northeast. The US 22 exit appears as if it's going to be
a volleyball interchange of sorts. The toll was 75 cents.
Once at the end of 576, I took PA 60 north and then looped around on Business 60
south to get to the motel.
Cheapest gas spotted: $2.699 back home at Beattyville and also around
Washington, Pa.; most expensive, $2.939 at Follansbee, WV.
Tomorrow: a new state....
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