Beckley, West Virginia Speed Traps
WV RT 16 Robert C. Byrd Drive
The trap starts at the traffic light at the “Little General service station and Subway restaurant. The Sophia Police (Sophia is at least 2 miles from here but patrols this stretch of 4 lane due to annexation of it to provide income to the city coffers) sit across the road at J-E Electric parking lot and blend in with the cars there and run radar. The speed limit at that particular stretch of road is 45 MPH and remains so going south toward Sophia and increases to 55 MPH at the beginning of a little hill just north of the Lester Square Mall. The officers will maintain that the 55 MPH speed limit doesn’t start until you reach the hill. The sign is posted further north than the beginning of the hill but a ticket is coming your way in any event. You will be found guilty if you fight the ticket and the fine will be the maximum allowed. In my case, I decided to fight the ticket and signed the back of it as the uniform ticket code required that I was intending to contest the officer’s assessment and sent it back to them per the instructions on the reverse side of the citation. I waited for a letter from them with a court date but it never arrived. (the lady at my post office said that her neighbor’s daughter worked at the Sophia city hall called HER and said that they had received my ticket in the mail but there was no money in it and would she talk to me about it which she did and I told her that I had contested the ticket and when you contest, you don’t send any money) Later after a good 2 years, I was driving and didn’t notice 35 MPH sign and was pulled over by a county deputy–he was very nice and told me that I was driving suspended! I was floored! But when he found out the reason for suspension and where it was from he told me to go on but have that resolved. Watch out people! RT 16 South from the stop light at Little General to the Lester off ramp!
East Beckley Bypass
The East Beckley Bypass (newly opened 12/5/11) connects I-64 to Stanaford Rd. (WV 41), bypassing the horrible traffic on Eisenhower Drive (US 19). However, the East Beckley Bypass, a 5 lane highway in an undeveloped rural area just outside of Beckley, has a speed limit of only 40 mph (for what reason I have no clue). It is almost impossible to drive at such a low speed on a rural, 5 lane, low traffic highway. You will naturally want to drive about 50-60mph (give or take), but driving that fast will get you pulled over. I personally have only driven the new highway a few times and every single time the police have had someone pulled over. I would suggest not using the bypass and using Eisenhower Dr. (US 19) except during the morning and evening rush hours, which is really the only times during the day that the time savings would be worth the risk of a ticket.
Entering Beckley from I-77 using Exit #42
When getting onto Rt 16 headed into Beckley, it is slightly downhill. Cops will set up in median, at the end of concrete divider, slightly hidden. Speed limit is 45 marked with one sign. The speed actually increases to 55, you can see the sign, about 100 yards from where they set up, going INTO town, then back down to 35. Even the cops refer to this as a "honey hole".
Johnstown Road (First Church of the Nazareneā)
Cop likes to sit in the Church parking lot. Mostly at night.
Harper Road near Interstate 77
Boggs Chiropractic Parking lot. Officer sits in car & across street in CVS parking lot