PA Turnpike News

[Zeffy]

also, unlike the Schuylkill, nobody refers to I-95 as the Delaware Expressway. It's just 95 or I-95.

I've never heard anyone in the tri-state area (including PA) use "I-" before the Interstate number. It is always just the number, or occasionally (usually with US or State routes) "Route XX".

Rhetorical question - why is it that the N.J. Turnpike Authority was able to plan, engineer and complete a massive widening of their turnpike in much less time than the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission and PennDOT are taking to build part of a (relatively) simple interchange?

This is the exact reason I refuse to believe that it'll be done before the year 2020. What would really be interesting is if because of how long Pennsylvania is taking to build the interchange, I-95 was rerouted to avoid PA and Philadelphia, instead heading up the Delaware Memorial Bridge and assuming the entire length of the New Jersey Turnpike. Highly unlikely, but it would be amusing to see that happen.

[DeaconG]

PennDOT has no cash.

also, unlike the Schuylkill, nobody refers to I-95 as the Delaware Expressway. It's just 95 or I-95.

They're using the money from the Turnpike to keep the Philly and Pittsburgh transit systems afloat. Act 44.

[jeffandnicole]

also, unlike the Schuylkill, nobody refers to I-95 as the Delaware Expressway. It's just 95 or I-95.

I've never heard anyone in the tri-state area (including PA) use "I-" before the Interstate number. It is always just the number, or occasionally (usually with US or State routes) "Route XX".

Rhetorical question - why is it that the N.J. Turnpike Authority was able to plan, engineer and complete a massive widening of their turnpike in much less time than the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission and PennDOT are taking to build part of a (relatively) simple interchange?

This is the exact reason I refuse to believe that it'll be done before the year 2020. What would really be interesting is if because of how long Pennsylvania is taking to build the interchange, I-95 was rerouted to avoid PA and Philadelphia, instead heading up the Delaware Memorial Bridge and assuming the entire length of the New Jersey Turnpike. Highly unlikely, but it would be amusing to see that happen.

If they haven't done it in the 1980's, or 1990's, or 2000's, or the first 5 years of the 2010's, they're not going to do it when they've already started constructing the interchange for the I-95 connection.

PennDOT has no cash.

also, unlike the Schuylkill, nobody refers to I-95 as the Delaware Expressway. It's just 95 or I-95.

They're using the money from the Turnpike to keep the Philly and Pittsburgh transit systems afloat. Act 44.

Some, but not all of the reason.  The PA Turnpike has numerous other projects going on, many of which have started in the past few years, and many of which would appear to be much lower in priority than a connection between 2 high-volume highways.  Hell, you can barely drive 30 miles without hitting another construction zone.   They have also raised tolls to help cover the costs of Act 44. 

[vdeane]

IMO the PTC should have prioritized this project instead of building a bunch of freeways around Pittsburgh.  So there's one reason why it's not moving: Pennsylvania is, quite frankly, not interested in it in the slightest.

[PHLBOS]

They have also raised tolls to help cover the costs of Act 44.

Act 44 was what triggered these now-annual toll increases in the first place.

[jeffandnicole]

They have also raised tolls to help cover the costs of Act 44.

Act 44 was what triggered these now-annual toll increases in the first place.

Right.  So how much money is that bringing in...is it covering the Act 44 payments, and if so, then what happened to the money that the Turnpike was already making that should've covered this project in the first place?

[cpzilliacus]

Act 44 might have something to do with it.

Act 44 has a lot to do with it, but the PTC's inept setting of priorities has (IMO) more to do with it.

[cpzilliacus]

PennDOT has no cash.

also, unlike the Schuylkill, nobody refers to I-95 as the Delaware Expressway. It's just 95 or I-95.

I used the names Delaware Expressway and E-W Mainline of the Pennsylvania Turnpike only because I wanted things to be clear to the readers, given that (at some point) there will be changes in route numbers here.

[cpzilliacus]

They have also raised tolls to help cover the costs of Act 44.

Act 44 was what triggered these now-annual toll increases in the first place.

Right.  So how much money is that bringing in...is it covering the Act 44 payments, and if so, then what happened to the money that the Turnpike was already making that should've covered this project in the first place?

The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission is still hemorrhaging money thanks to Act 44.

It would not have been had the state been able to hand-over I-80 to the PTC, but the federal government's Pilot Tolling Program (which has had no takers) wisely does not allow the imposition of tolls on a (currently free) freeway in order to fund the wages and benefits of militantly unionized transit workers hundreds of miles away (mostly in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, with some money going to smaller transit systems around the state) and to fund PennDOT projects that have nothing to do with the Turnpike. 

But as I understand it, PTC is still required to make massive Act 44 payments to PennDOT, even though it is not (and never will be) collecting a dime in tolls from I-80 users.

[ARMOURERERIC]

The Pa transportation bill eliminiated the Act 44 contribution and provided for a multi year payback to the PTC for funds already taken.  This has allowed for the PTC to resume the 22 to 79 section of the Southern Beltway in Pittsburgh, the MP 128 to 138 (?) reconstruction of the mainline, the Allegheny tunnel Bypass study, and has advanced to final design the mainline work for 376 to 28, and the Warrendale plaza to 79/19 and this was just with this years reimbursement, I expect many more projects to advance or start within the next 12 months.

[DeaconG]

The Pa transportation bill eliminiated the Act 44 contribution and provided for a multi year payback to the PTC for funds already taken.  This has allowed for the PTC to resume the 22 to 79 section of the Southern Beltway in Pittsburgh, the MP 128 to 138 (?) reconstruction of the mainline, the Allegheny tunnel Bypass study, and has advanced to final design the mainline work for 376 to 28, and the Warrendale plaza to 79/19 and this was just with this years reimbursement, I expect many more projects to advance or start within the next 12 months.

Excellent...now can someone kick PennDOT in the ass to get that I-95 interchange done before we all grow old and die?

[SignBridge]

It wouldn't surprise me if the PTC is deliberately dragging their feet re: the I-95 interchange for the simple reason that they still don't really want it for the same reasons they didn't build it when I-95 was built. They are afraid of losing toll revenue......... It always comes down to money.......

[qguy]

The PA Turnpike-I-95 connection project was in turtle mode long, lo-o-o-ong before Act 44 was ever thought of. I was a member of  the CAC (Community Advisory Committee) for this project back in 1993. Act 44 came and went; the pace of this project was glacial before, during, and after its reign.

[cpzilliacus]

It wouldn't surprise me if the PTC is deliberately dragging their feet re: the I-95 interchange for the simple reason that they still don't really want it for the same reasons they didn't build it when I-95 was built. They are afraid of losing toll revenue......... It always comes down to money.......

That does not make much sense.  If anything, drivers that will mindlessly be able to follow the I-95 shields up and down the East Coast once part of the Bristol Township project is done will result in more (not less) revenue-paying traffic on the eastern end of the Pennsylvania Turnpike's E-W Mainline.  Of course, this (newly renumbered) section of I-95 will become the only four-lane section of the road between Petersburg, Va. and Connecticut (with the exception of a few ramps that carry I-95 in Maryland and Virginia, and through Wilmington, Delaware, where six-lane I-495 is a nearly perfect bypass of the four lane segment.

[cpzilliacus]

The Pa transportation bill eliminiated the Act 44 contribution and provided for a multi year payback to the PTC for funds already taken.  This has allowed for the PTC to resume the 22 to 79 section of the Southern Beltway in Pittsburgh, the MP 128 to 138 (?) reconstruction of the mainline, the Allegheny tunnel Bypass study, and has advanced to final design the mainline work for 376 to 28, and the Warrendale plaza to 79/19 and this was just with this years reimbursement, I expect many more projects to advance or start within the next 12 months.

All of Act 44 has been killed?  Is former State Senator Vince Fumo (the architect of Act 44) still in federal prison? 

Thank you for sharing that news.

Still, as others have pointed out, this is not likely to speed-up the Bristol Township interchange project at all.

[cpzilliacus]

The PA Turnpike-I-95 connection project was in turtle mode long, lo-o-o-ong before Act 44 was ever thought of. I was a member of  the CAC (Community Advisory Committee) for this project back in 1993. Act 44 came and went; the pace of this project was glacial before, during, and after its reign.

I realize it was not the PTC's fault that the Somerset Expressway in New Jersey was NIMBY'ed to death. 

But that history was written long ago, and it was always inexcusable that there was no interchange between the E-W Mainline of the Turnpike and the Delaware Expressway, with (or without) the Somerset Expressway being built.

[jeffandnicole]

It wouldn't surprise me if the PTC is deliberately dragging their feet re: the I-95 interchange for the simple reason that they still don't really want it for the same reasons they didn't build it when I-95 was built. They are afraid of losing toll revenue......... It always comes down to money.......

That does not make much sense.  If anything, drivers that will mindlessly be able to follow the I-95 shields up and down the East Coast once part of the Bristol Township project is done will result in more (not less) revenue-paying traffic on the eastern end of the Pennsylvania Turnpike's E-W Mainline.  Of course, this (newly renumbered) section of I-95 will become the only four-lane section of the road between Petersburg, Va. and Connecticut (with the exception of a few ramps that carry I-95 in Maryland and Virginia, and through Wilmington, Delaware, where six-lane I-495 is a nearly perfect bypass of the four lane segment.

Current day 95 is only 4 lanes north of 413 to the Scudders Falls Bridge, and I don't think the short stretch of 95 between 413 & the PA Turnpike will be widened to 6 lanes as part of this project.

I thought the PA Turnpike was to be widened from 95 to the PA-NJ Turnpike Bridge, and eventually the bridge will be dualized as well to price 3 lanes per direction. 

[cl94]

It wouldn't surprise me if the PTC is deliberately dragging their feet re: the I-95 interchange for the simple reason that they still don't really want it for the same reasons they didn't build it when I-95 was built. They are afraid of losing toll revenue......... It always comes down to money.......

That does not make much sense.  If anything, drivers that will mindlessly be able to follow the I-95 shields up and down the East Coast once part of the Bristol Township project is done will result in more (not less) revenue-paying traffic on the eastern end of the Pennsylvania Turnpike's E-W Mainline.  Of course, this (newly renumbered) section of I-95 will become the only four-lane section of the road between Petersburg, Va. and Connecticut (with the exception of a few ramps that carry I-95 in Maryland and Virginia, and through Wilmington, Delaware, where six-lane I-495 is a nearly perfect bypass of the four lane segment.

Current day 95 is only 4 lanes north of 413 to the Scudders Falls Bridge, and I don't think the short stretch of 95 between 413 & the PA Turnpike will be widened to 6 lanes as part of this project.

I thought the PA Turnpike was to be widened from 95 to the PA-NJ Turnpike Bridge, and eventually the bridge will be dualized as well to price 3 lanes per direction.

The Turnpike will be widened and so will the bridge. They might lose toll revenue because the ticket system would end west of I-95 and the WB-only bridge tolls are shared with NJTA, but you'd think that the increase in volume a direct connection would bring could offset the lack of tolls at US 13.

[Roadrunner75]

Current day 95 is only 4 lanes north of 413 to the Scudders Falls Bridge, and I don't think the short stretch of 95 between 413 & the PA Turnpike will be widened to 6 lanes as part of this project.

It looks like from the rendering on the website that it will be 2 lanes through the 413 interchange from the NB exit ramp to the NB on-ramp, with 3 lanes continuing to the split for the Turnpike / Future 95N.  The 3D Animation NB doesn't show lane markings on the right, but it looks like 3 lanes through here, and the overhead BGS indicates this as well.

I thought the PA Turnpike was to be widened from 95 to the PA-NJ Turnpike Bridge, and eventually the bridge will be dualized as well to price 3 lanes per direction.

The mapping on the website shows this widening as well, with the temporary drop to 2 lanes at the US 13 interchange until the second bridge is built.

[02 Park Ave]

The Third Lane project on the Ohio Turnpike between Youngstown and Toledo was supposed to be completed in 2000 but is now scheduled to be completed later this month

[vdeane]

It will be widened.  Who knows if the bridge will be though.  The project is split into phases:
-Phase 1: Turnpike widening, new toll barrier (honestly, at this point they might as well just not bother), I-95 flyovers (scheduled to be completed this decade)
-Phase 2: the rest of the interchange (unfunded, scheduled for next decade)
-Phase 3: building the second bridge (unfunded, not yet scheduled at all)

[DeaconG]

It will be widened.  Who knows if the bridge will be though.  The project is split into phases:
-Phase 1: Turnpike widening, new toll barrier (honestly, at this point they might as well just not bother), I-95 flyovers (scheduled to be completed this decade)
-Phase 2: the rest of the interchange (unfunded, scheduled for next decade)
-Phase 3: building the second bridge (unfunded, not yet scheduled at all)

Why do I have the feeling we'll be discussing this in the "aaroads.com topics in 2064" IN 2064?

[PHLBOS]

The Pa transportation bill eliminiated the Act 44 contribution and provided for a multi year payback to the PTC for funds already taken.  This has allowed for the PTC to resume the 22 to 79 section of the Southern Beltway in Pittsburgh, the MP 128 to 138 (?) reconstruction of the mainline, the Allegheny tunnel Bypass study, and has advanced to final design the mainline work for 376 to 28, and the Warrendale plaza to 79/19 and this was just with this years reimbursement, I expect many more projects to advance or start within the next 12 months.

All of Act 44 has been killed?  Is former State Senator Vince Fumo (the architect of Act 44) still in federal prison?

I don't believe that the recently-passed transportation bill killed off Act 44.  All it did was just reduce the number of times (or percentages) of toll increases.  We'll know come early 2015; the recent toll increases have been occurring every January.

BTW, Fumo has since been released from federal prison and is now under "house arrest".

[SteveG1988]

Did not find a reference to this on here but: http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2014/09/pennsylvania_turnpike_will_clo_1.html the north midway service plaza is closed, i drove by it today, nothing but a pile of rubble with a foundation

[briantroutman]

I know they'd never do this, but I'd make a special trip to PA if the PTC would re-open the tunnel linking the two plazas while North Midway is closed for reconstruction.