CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A Kanawha County delegate said the time has come to take a look at the safety of the elevated interstate in Charleston. Four people were killed in a Friday night crash when their pickup truck jumped over the median wall and landed in the Martin-Marietta gravel yard 42-feet below.
The wreck was the third in recent days on the elevated interstate–and one of those three involved Delegate Dana Ferrell’s daughter and her boyfriend. They were struck by another vehicle and while they didn’t go over the wall, it was very close. Ferrell, R-Kanawha, said something needs to be done.
“That’s the third incident in five days and we’ve got loss of life and critically injured,” said Ferrell in an appearance on 580-Live with Dave Allen on 580-WCHS. “I think at some point we’ve got to say this isn’t the same traffic demographic we had in 1975 when the interstate system opened. Maybe we need to review some things and make some changes here.”
The third accident in recent days was a semi which went over the wall and landed close to Summers Street. The two in the truck were hospitalized from their injuries in critical condition.
Ferrell shared his concern in a social media post soon after Saturday’s tragedy. He got quite a bit of feedback.
“Dozens and dozens of comments saying these people just need to slow down, which is easy to say, but I don’t know anybody who hasn’t speeded through that area,” Ferrell said. “But just in the last 24 to 48 hours I’ve gotten multiple input from former engineers, current engineers, people that work for highways and some pretty inciteful things I think we can work with.”
Monday, the state Department of Transportation put out a release in regard to the elevated highway. State Transportation Secretary Todd Rumbaugh issued the following statement in the release.
“The West Virginia Division of Highways is concerned with the recent occurrence of crashes resulting in vehicles leaving the interstate, including the tragic event that occurred Friday, August 21, 2026. Even prior to the most recent incidents, WVDOH engineers have been working to develop a project to install high friction surface treatment on several of the elevated portions of the interstate. We anticipate having those treatments installed later this fall. We are closely coordinating with the Charleston Police Department to monitor crashes in this area and will determine additional countermeasures that may be implemented as they complete their crash investigations.
We would like to take this opportunity to remind everyone that a safe highway system is dependent on several components – safe roads, safe speeds, safe people, safe vehicles, and post-crash care. None is more important than the others. The WVDOH takes our responsibility to design and build safe roads very seriously. We ask that everyone traveling the state’s roads and highways do their part to contribute to a safe highway system by driving at the posted speed limits, buckling up, and not driving while impaired or distracted. It takes all of us to prevent tragedies on our roadways; you do your part and we will keep working hard to do ours.”
Ferrell believes the discussion is worth having and wants to approach it from a couple of angles. He’d like to discuss with the DOT what can be done in the short term to slow people down and in the long term to stop vehicles from going over the edge.
“We can’t go back and reset the highway or widen the lanes or add lanes, but we can take some precautions to try and slow traffic down. Then if it doesn’t slow down then what can we do as a defensive measure and that’s where we’re looking at barriers, safety cables, nets and things like that,” he said.