Charleston, WV (WOAY) – Traffic on the West Virginia Turnpike is flowing again after severe weather forced northbound lanes to close late Thursday night.
The closure was reported around 9:30 p.m. on the Southern end of Kanawha County near Sharon, WV. The road did not reopen until nearly 6:00 a.m. on Friday morning leaving drivers stranded for over 8 hours. No injuries were reported from the incident.
A statement Friday from West Virginia Parkways Authority Executive Director Chuck Smith detailed what led to the closure.
“Last night, heavy rains led to a mudslide that blocked a 60-inch storm drain on the Turnpike and caused flooding that led to a complete shutdown of northbound lanes,” Smith said. “One lane reopened during the early morning of Friday, June 27, 2025, but traffic remained at a standstill for hours.”
According to Smith, the parkways authority was to blame for not providing a detour for drivers.
“Traffic should have been detoured to allow drivers an alternate route around the mudslide,” he said.
“We are grateful that there were no injuries as a result of the flooding and traffic stoppage. The Parkways Authority takes full responsibility for the failure to reroute traffic and would like to assure the public that this will never happen again,” Smith continued. “At the direction of Governor Patrick Morrisey, the Parkways Authority is already examining and revising its policies on Turnpike closures and detours as a result of this incident.”
In 2009 a major storm dumped several inches of snow in southeastern West Virginia, leading to crashes that resulted in the turnpike being closed in similar fashion for several hours.
That storm ended up as the second biggest on record in Beckley, with only the blizzard of 1993 producing more snow.
