Senate Bill No. 542
(By Senators Caruth, Chafin, Fanning and Guills)
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[Introduced March 11, 2009; referred to the Committee on
Transportation and Infrastructure; and then to the Committee on
Finance.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §17-16A-18 of the Code of West
Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to terminating tolls on
the West Virginia Turnpike no later than 2020.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §17-16A-18 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as
amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 16A. WEST VIRGINIA PARKWAYS, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND
TOURISM AUTHORITY.
§17-16A-18. Cessation of tolls.
(a) Except as provided herein, when all bonds issued under the
provisions of this article in connection with any parkway project
or projects and the interest thereon shall have been paid or a
sufficient amount for the payment of all such bonds and the
interest thereon to the maturity thereof shall have been set aside in trust for the benefit of the bondholders,
no later than the year
2020, such project or projects, if then in good condition and
repair to the satisfaction of the Commissioner of the State
Division of Highways, shall be transferred to the State Division of
Highways and shall thereafter be maintained by the State Division
of Highways free of tolls.
(b) No later than
the first day of February, one thousand nine
hundred ninety February 1, 2020, the parkways authority
or its
successors shall discontinue, remove and not relocate all toll
collection facilities on the West Virginia Turnpike as the same
existed on June 1, 1989, except for
the three main toll barriers
and collection facilities and, provided solely that the provisions
of section eighteen-a
are complied with, as they apply to the toll
collection facilities at the intersection of U.S. Route 19
(Corridor "L") and said turnpike
unless bonds issued in connection
with that project and the interest thereon have been paid, in which
case, tolls shall discontinue and those toll facilities shall be
removed.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to discontinue tolls on the
West Virginia Turnpike by 2020.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.