BACKYARD HABITATING ELECT PREZ BY POP VOTE WHITE & YELLOW PAGES SEARCH WITH DOGPILE LINK EXCHANGE APPALACHIAN INSTITUTE PRIVACY POLICY
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WV'S Airline Center
LAKEFRONT (scheduled and charter)
BLENNERHASSETT ISLAND STERNWHEELER
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needs high speed connex ROAD CONDITIONS IN WV & SURROUNDING STATES
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Is WV's speed limit too high? MAXIMUM SPEED LIMITS (BY STATE)
TRANSPORTATION in West Virginia West Virginia's story, its past, present and future, is closely intertwined with access and transportation - and the lack of both. During America's Colonial period, our rugged terrain served as an impenetrable barrier to westward expansion. The absence of any long, traversing valleys made travel within western Virginia (present WV) so difficult that both colonists and native Americans shied from establishing permanent settlements here. As the nation developed, the mountains did not go away. For the most part, people, commerce, and prosperity simply avoided western Virginia. By the conclusion of the War of 1812, western Virginians were voicing deep frustration with their state government for failing to build roads to and through the western counties. After the Virginia Constitutional Conventions of 1830 and 1851 failed to address transportation issues in the west, these counties found themselves increasingly poor and isolated from a growing nation. While most had no use for slavery or eastern aristocracy, it was frustration over transportation, more than any other single issue, that drove West Virginia's statehood movement. The Civil War finally provided an opportunity for the western counties to secede from Virginia in 1861. In 1863, WV was formally accepted into the Union as our 35th state. The counties along much of WV's present state border offered exceptional opportunity in the 1800s, just as they do today - thanks to abundant labor, natural resources, and terrain that is especially favorable to transportation and commerce. By 1833, the C & O Canal connected Washington with the numerous factories in Harpers Ferry, VA (now WV). By 1834, the B & O Railroad had reached Harpers Ferry, and extended its reach all the way to booming Wheeling by 1852. Railroad access to munitions factories in Harpers Ferry and the massive rail center in Martinsburg were of critical importance to both sides during the Civil War. Although there was significant railroad activity in WV prior to the Civil War, our big railroad era did not arrive until later. In 1873, the C & O Railroad ventured deep into WV's southern interior to tap the rich coal reserves of the New River Gorge. As the Norfolk & Western reached WV's southwestern coalfields in 1892, a real transportation revolution was underway. Thanks to the lure of coal, lumber, and other raw resources, these and other railroads (backed by rich and powerful corporations) were hauling goods and passengers from 100's of WV's 'hollers' and connecting us to cities and towns all across the nation. WV was hooked on rail, and numerous towns across the state installed modern trolley systems to further enhance living and working conditions. Following WW II, WV stubbornly clung to its railroads as the rest of the nation put its energy into airline service, commercial airports, and modern highways. You know the rest of the story. As late as 1970, WV highways were among the nation's worst (in terms of interstate and other projects completed, safety, and overall operating condition), yet today they are among the nation's best - or are they? The majority of West Virginians now live in counties along today's state borders. where many speak of underdeveloped transportation (not just highway), poor access, lost opportunity, and a persistent cold shoulder from the state capitol in Charleston. Ironically, the issues seems remarkably similar to those that drove us to statehood and away from Richmond over 140 years ago. It is easy to understand how a national trend shrunk our railroad service. It is harder to understand why there are still no fast east-west highways through most of WV OR why airline service remains poor for most parts of the state. This is, by no means, to imply that WV is without considerable progress on other fronts - especially with our north-south highway corridors. The cycle of planning, funding and building highways is long and slow by nature, yet most of our airline problems may be fixed with relative speed - if we just get started. For more information, please see the related topics below. WV'S AIRLINE CRISIS - RUNNING ON EMPTY WHAT ELSE?
OTHER RELATED PAGES AT WVLifeAndRec.Com VEHICLES: ATVs, Aviation, Boats, Cars, Natural, Historic & Touristic Sites
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