Transportation in West Virginia

Transportation in West Virginia

Roads

Interstate highways

U.S. Highways

West Virginia State Highways

Airports

*Beckley Raleigh County Memorial Airport
*Eastern West Virginia Regional Airport
*Elkins-Randolph County Airport
*Greater Cumberland Regional Airport
*Greenbrier Valley Airport
*Harrison/Marion Regional Airport
*Mercer County Airport
*Mid-Ohio Valley Regional Airport
*Morgantown Municipal Airport
*Potomac Airpark
*Tri-State Airport
*Wheeling Ohio County Airport
*Yeager Airport

Railroads

While West Virginia was onced criss-crossed with commercial and passenger railroad networks, the decline of the coal and timber industries, coupled with the rise of the automobile, led to a sharp drop in track mileage in the state. Today, many of the former railroad grades are used as trails for hiking and biking throughout the states numerous woodlands.

Today, West Virginia is serviced by an Amtrak line that cuts through the southern portion of the state, including stops in Huntington and Charleston. Commercial railroads still operate in the state, mainly hauling coal to inland ports such as Huntington (the nation's busiest) and Pittsburgh.

Bridges and tunnels

As a mountainous state, bridges and tunnels play an important role in transportation in West Virginia. Notable bridges and tunnels include:
*New River Gorge Bridge -- near Fayetteville, WV
*Silver Bridge -- Point Pleasant, WV
*Silver Memorial Bridge -- Henderson, WV to Gallipolis, OH
*Wheeling Suspension Bridge -- Wheeling, WV
*East River Mountain Tunnel -- near Bluefield, WV to near Rocky Gap, VA
*Fort Henry Bridge -- Wheeling, WV
*Veterans Memorial Bridge -- Weirton, WV to Steubenville, OH

Rapid transit

*Morgantown Personal Rapid Transit

Rivers

Rivers with commercial barge traffic and docks in West Virginia include: [ [http://www.wvdot.com/5_rivers/5_rivers.htm West Virginia Department of Transportation, Rivers Section web page, access 9 June 2006] ]
* Ohio
* Kanawha (a tributary of the Ohio)
* Monongahela (the Mon and the Allegheny Rivers meet to form the Ohio in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
* Little Kanawha (a tributary of the Ohio)
* Big Sandy (a tributary of the Ohio)
* Elk (a tributary of the Kanawha)
* Pocatalico (a tributary of the Kanawha)
* Mill Creek (a tributary of the Ohio)

Navigation Lock and Dams in West Virginia [ [http://www.lrh.usace.army.mil/ U.S. Corps of Engineers, Huntington District web site, accessed 9 June 2006] ] [ [http://www.lrp.usace.army.mil/ U.S. Corps of Engineers, Pittsburgh District web site, accessed 9 June 2006] ]

* On the Ohio
** New Cumberland Locks and Dam
** Pike Island Locks and Dam
** Hannibal Locks and Dam
** Willow Island Locks and Dam
** Belleville Locks and Dam
** Racine Locks and Dam
** Robert C. Byrd Locks and Dam

* On the Kanawha
**London Lock and Dam
**Marmet Lock and Dam
**Winfield Lock and Dam

*On the Monogahela
**Morgantown Lock and Dam
**Hildebrand Lock and Dam
**Opekiska Lock and Dam

Notes