Kanawha County, WV (WOAY) – A toll collector is recovering after a tractor-trailer hauling steel beams missed the designated wide load lane at a toll plaza near Cabin Creek on Saturday, knocking a booth off its base and sending the worker into an adjacent lane with oncoming traffic.
West Virginia Parkways Authority Executive Director Chuck Smith said the driver failed to recognize signs for the wide load lane and attempted to pass through a standard lane. The worker was injured but is expected to recover.
“He was injured, but luckily the injuries weren’t as severe as it could have been. We were lucky in that respect, and I know that the employee has been blessed by that,” Smith said.
In 2025, turnpike toll booths were struck 39 times. Smith noted many of those booths were unmanned due to electronic tolling already in place, but the number highlights the risk for workers staffing occupied booths.
“The last thing I want is somebody to be injured or possibly killed while they’re working,” he said.
Full automation is the goal, Smith said. According to Smith, the Authority is operating under a legislative mandate to expand electronic tolling, with a first-phase study due within 60 days. Even so, Smith cautioned the transition will take years. The booths sit above underground tunnels, and at the Cabin Creek plaza, the road grade would need to be modified to meet interstate speed standards once the tolling slowdown is removed.
Smith said the shift to automation will not eliminate jobs. Collectors who want to move into office roles will have a path to do so.
“Those that want to transition will transition. The goal of this study is not elimination of jobs. It’s the creation and preserving of our employees,” Smith said.
Smith also addressed a question that has circulated on social media: why not route all trucks into the wide load lane? With 35 to 40 percent of turnpike traffic made up of non-Easy Pass vehicles, he said funneling that volume into a single lane is not workable.
He also recognized the Authority’s maintenance crew, which had the damaged Cabin Creek booth replaced in about an hour Monday morning.
“It’s like a NASCAR crew that comes out there. The work they do is fantastic and I can’t say enough how much I appreciate that,” Smith said.
