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PA Turnpike - Breezewood

Started by SFalcon71, July 31, 2017, 07:22:46 AM

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SFalcon71

I travel the PA Turnpike frequently, and always have to go through Breezewood. In Breezewood, I-70 splits from I-76, runs about a mile and a half, then conjunctions with US-30 on a residential street, with gas stations, shops, etc. for half a mile or so, then it continues eastward as an interstate again. My question is regarding it's concurrence with US-30; is that stretch still technically I-70? I can't imagine it's up to the Interstate Standards, but Google lists it as I-70. Also, will they ever build a proper interchange here, considering how long this has been like this?

Map: https://www.google.com/maps/place/I-70,+Breezewood,+PA+15533/@39.9989493,-78.2364089,17.5z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x87c05cafb501933d:0x892c03d307c4906a!8m2!3d39.9991863!4d-78.2388059


jeffandnicole

Type in Breezewood into the search box. There are numerous threads with hundreds of posts dealing with this topic!

mariethefoxy

Yes it is, an exception was granted for it.

cpzilliacus

Quote from: mariethefoxy on July 31, 2017, 02:09:51 PM
Yes it is, an exception was granted for it.

Disagree. 

Breezewood (and the others, mostly on the Pennsylvania  Turnpike, like Carlisle) exist because of provisions in federal law that said if direct connections had been provided, the Turnpike would have been forced to de-toll.  Those provisions in federal law no longer exist, but most of the Breezewoods in Pennsylvania exist because of political influence by business and property owners at and near the breezewoods (in the case of the Breezewood, it's the Wilt family). Never mind the  delays and crashes that result thanks to existence of Breezewood, which appear not to matter to PennDOT and the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission.
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wanderer2575

Quote from: cpzilliacus on July 31, 2017, 02:56:07 PM
Breezewood (and the others, mostly on the Pennsylvania  Turnpike, like Carlisle) exist because of provisions in federal law that said if direct connections had been provided, the Turnpike would have been forced to de-toll.  Those provisions in federal law no longer exist, but most of the Breezewoods in Pennsylvania exist because of political influence by business and property owners at and near the breezewoods (in the case of the Breezewood, it's the Wilt family). Never mind the  delays and crashes that result thanks to existence of Breezewood, which appear not to matter to PennDOT and the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission.

To be fair, PennDOT and the PTC did plan at least a couple decades ago to construct a direct interchange.  But with the aforementioned influence of the Wilt family and company, the state legislature actually stepped in and stopped the plans.  PennDOT and PTC can be criticized for a lot of things, but I don't think 21st Century Breezewood is one of them.

briantroutman

As has been observed, the subject of the I-70 "missing link" , Breezewood, and related topics has been the subject of many many threads over the years.

You can get a basic education as to why the Breezewood exists from the FHWA's "Rambler"  column here: https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructure/tollroad.cfm
Scroll down to the heading that says: Okay, Smarty Pants, What About Breezewood, Pennsylvania?

But as to your underlying question:

Quote from: SFalcon71 on July 31, 2017, 07:22:46 AM
My question is regarding it's concurrence with US-30; is that stretch still technically I-70?

According to PennDOT, the answer is no: US 30 in Breezewood is not I-70. PennDOT's reference markers (a.k.a. the little white signs) label that section as "SR 30" , and PennDOT's straight line diagram for Bedford County shows SR 70 ending at mile marker 147 and the traffic lights at the intersection with SR 30. (Scroll down to the page numbered as 69 in the upper right corner–note that the page numbers of the diagram are in reverse order.)

The Ghostbuster

Breezewood will likely always exist. Maybe the Interstate 70 designation should have ended at Interstate 76's present day Exit 75, and the rest of 70 from Breezewood to Baltimore should have been Interstate 68.

dgolub

Quote from: The Ghostbuster on July 31, 2017, 04:40:28 PM
Breezewood will likely always exist. Maybe the Interstate 70 designation should have ended at Interstate 76's present day Exit 75, and the rest of 70 from Breezewood to Baltimore should have been Interstate 68.

Or I-70 should have taken over the Pennsylvania Turnpike and ended at I-95.

TravelingBethelite

Quote from: cpzilliacus on July 31, 2017, 02:56:07 PM
Quote from: mariethefoxy on July 31, 2017, 02:09:51 PM
Yes it is, an exception was granted for it.

Disagree. 

Breezewood (and the others, mostly on the Pennsylvania  Turnpike, like Carlisle) exist because of provisions in federal law that said if direct connections had been provided, the Turnpike would have been forced to de-toll.  Those provisions in federal law no longer exist, but most of the Breezewoods in Pennsylvania exist because of political influence by business and property owners at and near the breezewoods (in the case of the Breezewood, it's the Wilt family). Never mind the  delays and crashes that result thanks to existence of Breezewood, which appear not to matter to PennDOT and the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission.

As in there are other occurences of Breezewood-like situations in Pennsylvania/on the Pennsylvania Turnpike? Like where? Does I-76/PT and I-80, for example, count?  :hmmm:
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Bitmapped

Quote from: TravelingBethelite on July 31, 2017, 08:43:43 PM
Quote from: cpzilliacus on July 31, 2017, 02:56:07 PM
Quote from: mariethefoxy on July 31, 2017, 02:09:51 PM
Yes it is, an exception was granted for it.

Disagree. 

Breezewood (and the others, mostly on the Pennsylvania  Turnpike, like Carlisle) exist because of provisions in federal law that said if direct connections had been provided, the Turnpike would have been forced to de-toll.  Those provisions in federal law no longer exist, but most of the Breezewoods in Pennsylvania exist because of political influence by business and property owners at and near the breezewoods (in the case of the Breezewood, it's the Wilt family). Never mind the  delays and crashes that result thanks to existence of Breezewood, which appear not to matter to PennDOT and the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission.

As in there are other occurences of Breezewood-like situations in Pennsylvania/on the Pennsylvania Turnpike? Like where? Does I-76/PT and I-80, for example, count?  :hmmm:

I-76 and I-80 intersection in Ohio, not Pennsylvania. There is a direct freeway-to-freeway interchange there, so it's not the same situation as at Breezewood.

If you look at a map, you can see there are several other locations where the Pennsylvania Turnpike and an adjacent freeway cross without a direct interchange. Some locations, like at I-79 and at I-176, used to have this situation but have since had direct interchanges built.

US71

There is already at least one other Breezewood discussion. So I am locking this down.
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