CHARLESTON, W.Va. — It’s not the busiest traveling period in the state but it’s still expected there will be hundreds of thousands of transactions made along the West Virginia Turnpike for the Easter holiday.
The West Virginia Parkways Authority is gearing up for a five-day Easter holiday travel weekend starting on Thursday. The day after is projected to be the most traveled.
“We anticipate Friday will be the most traveled of those days,” said Jeff Miller, West Virginia Parkways Authority Executive Director.
The estimated transactions for the Easter holiday weekend are as follows:
Thursday, March 28: 125,000
Friday, March 29 (Good Friday): 135,000
Saturday, March 30: 95,000
Sunday, March 31 (Easter): 90,000
Monday, April 1: 120,000
The last time Easter fell on March 31 was in 2013. Miller said they went back and reviewed data from that year in order to help project the traveling numbers for this year’s Easter.
“We’re lookin at anywhere from 560,000 to 575,000 transactions over the five-day period,” Miller said.
This time of the year will prepare them for when traveling ramps up again around the Memorial Day and Labor Day holidays.
The weather over the next few days won’t necessarily keep people from traveling either.
“Early weather forecasts indicate mid to high 50s during the day with a slight chance of rain,” Miller said. “That could mainly just affect which day of that week experiences the most travel,”
Miller reminds drivers that E-ZPass is the best way to travel along the West Virginia Turnpike. The Single Fee Discount Program costs $26.25 per year (plus $13 transponder fee) for unlimited use of the Turnpike.