Dyl's Roads & Travels: I-70 in West Virginia

I-70 in West Virginia is the shortest segment of I-70 within any state. The road runs for 14.45 miles through the Northern Panhandle of West Virginia.

I-70 enters West Virginia on the western channel of the Ohio River, passing through Wheeling Island.

I-70 takes a viaduct over Wheeling Island.

US 40 and US 250 start an overlap with I-70 midway through Wheeling Island. And yes, that is Exit 0. I guess the Garden State Parkway isn't the only Exit 0 around!

I-70 crosses the main channel of the Ohio River on the Fort Henry Bridge.

After the Fort Henry Bridge, I-70 narrows down to one lane in each direction at its interchange with WV 2. A mainline and primary interstste highway ought not to do this! This is why through traffic, especially truck traffic, is placed on multilane I-470 instead. You'll see the other reason next. Anyways, this is why I-70 and I-470 should swap places. It's more tolerable for an auxiliary interstate to do this than a primary interstate. The ramps to and from WV 2 are incredibly tight thanks to geographic constraints.

The Wheeling Tunnel. While the tunnel is two lanes in each direction, only one lane is "truly" I-70. Especially because lane shifting is prohibited in the tunnel.

See what I mean?

A stub ramp branches from the I-70 WB ramp to US 250 SB. This stub was supposed to lead to a northern extension of the US 250 / WV 2 freeway towards Weirton. That freeway was supposed to be WV 2 the whole way and WV 2 would be moved away from downtown Wheeling. I do not know if a branch of the extension would have been built for US 250 or if US 250 would have still joined I-70 here.