PA Turnpike News

[RevZimmerman]

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review has a brief article updating the PA Turnpike's pilot program experimenting with going cashless at two interchanges:
http://triblive.com/state/pennsylvania/8819413-74/toll-cashless-turnpike#axzz3n13p1wsH

[RevZimmerman]

The PA Turnpike marks 75 years since it opened on OCT 1, 1940.

Harrisburg Patriot-News (pennlive.com) has a short article. There are some good pictures in its gallery:
http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2015/10/the_pennsylvania_turnpike_open.html

[The Ghostbuster]

Happy 75th PA Turnpike!

[Gnutella]

America's first superhighway turns 75 years old today, and slowly but surely, segment by segment, it's being reconstructed as a modern superhighway once again.

[thenetwork]

Now I'm really feeling old.  I was working my college job marking up Triptiks at AAA when the Pike turned 50!!!

[cpzilliacus]

America's first superhighway turns 75 years old today, and slowly but surely, segment by segment, it's being reconstructed as a modern superhighway once again.

Not including Breezewood and the rest of the inadequate Turnpike interchanges.

[ARMOURERERIC]

A project has been added to the PTC website:  Ne Extension repaving from MP A94 to A122

[Gnutella]

A project has been added to the PTC website:  Ne Extension repaving from MP A94 to A122

Now they have projects for every letter from A through Z.

[MASTERNC]

A project has been added to the PTC website:  Ne Extension repaving from MP A94 to A122

Now they have projects for every letter from A through Z.

Except there is no webpage for the reconstruction between MP 99 and 102 (although that is almost complete).

[ARMOURERERIC]

And they have yet to delete the PA 903 AET diamond interchange which is supposedly complete.

[CentralPAGal]

And they have yet to delete the PA 903 AET diamond interchange which is supposedly complete.

...And, isn't MP 206-210 done, too?

[Gnutella]

The PTC had an open house earlier this week for the reconstruction and widening of MP 298 to MP 302. Apparently they had an open house for MP 308 to MP 312 back in September, and the open house for MP 302 to MP 308 early in the new year. Here are preliminary designs for MP 298 to MP 302, and MP 308 to MP 312. Oddly, no new news on the planned reconstruction and widening from MP 320 to MP 326. My guess is there are a bunch of community groups hemming and hawing over this project. Either way, expect plenty of reconstruction and widening of the Turnpike between Reading and King of Prussia late in the decade.

Elsewhere on the Turnpike, the new Swatara Creek Bridge is nearing completion near Harrisburg, and the reconstruction and widening of MP 242 to MP 245 should be done about two and a half years from now. Reconstruction and widening also continues from MP 220 to MP 227, and should be done about a year from now. Once all these projects wrap up, it'll leave only a short, three-mile segment (MP 247 to MP 250) untouched between Blue Mountain and Swatara Creek. There are no immediate plans for reconstruction and widening of the Turnpike between Swatara Creek and Reading.

In western Pennsylvania, construction of the new Beaver River Bridges and an accompanying Turnpike realignment/widening will begin in the next few months, and be completed within three years. Also to be completed within three years will be the reconstruction and widening of MP 40 to MP 48 west of the Allegheny River Bridges. Replacement of two overpasses near I-79 is either recently completed or imminent, and reconstruction of MP 28 to MP 31 will be underway by the end of the decade. The big motherload will be a series of projects to reconstruct and widen MP 49 to MP 67, which are all in preliminary design right now, and will include at least a minor reconfiguration of the I-376 interchange in Monroeville. Reconstruction and widening should be underway by the end of the decade. There are no immediate plans for reconstruction and widening of the Turnpike between the Beaver River and I-79.

There also appears to be two random segments of the Turnpike east of the Allegheny Mountain Tunnel that are about to be reconstructed and widened soon: MP 124 to MP 134 east of the Allegheny Mountain Tunnel, and MP 149 to MP 155 between the Bedford and Breezewood interchanges. Both projects should be complete by the end of the decade. There's also MP 180 to MP 186, which is in preliminary design right now. As for the Allegheny Mountain Tunnel, the decision appears to have been delayed until next year, unfortunately.

[ARMOURERERIC]

Of the bridges near 79, Thorn Hill Road is done and the PTC is moving on to Freedom Road.  A local news article out of Cranberry is that the PTC will not close the existing bridge while building the new Freedom Road overpass.  The new bridge is going to be like 5-6 lanes wide, it needed widening for traffic volume 30 years ago.  I am very surprised that any work on the mainline from Harrisburg East to Swatara is not on the radar, it is such a short section.

[noelbotevera]

Focus on the tunnels. Allegheny Mountain Tunnel is in pretty bad shape, but the PTC still says no about replacing a seventy-five year old tunnel. All of the tunnels need some facelifts, otherwise they risk collapse. Plus, here's a bypass I found.

https://www.google.com/maps/search/allegheny+mountain+tunnel/@39.9495624,-78.876308,6182m/data=!3m1!1e3

So to the south is PA 31. the land is all clear, and I'd say that a total of four lanes can be crammed through there. It'll just dip south west of Huckleberry Highway to the left of the photo and return to the alignment when PA 31 parallels I-76 for a couple of miles to the east (to the right, but you have to pan right/zoom out to see).

https://www.google.com/maps/search/allegheny+mountain+tunnel/@40.0426507,-78.812124,8219m/data=!3m1!1e3

Here's the northern route. I-76 could use the US 219 freeway to the west and then jump on a concurrency on US 30 between Stoystown and PA 96. It'd then dip south to where I-76 parallels PA 31 to return to its alignment.

-----------------------------------------------------
Here's another problem.

https://www.google.com/maps/search/allegheny+mountain+tunnel/@40.2288974,-77.145311,1476m/data=!3m1!1e3

I-76 crosses I-81, but there's no interchange. Rather than having to deal with a mile of US 11, surely PTC could try and cram some long ramps into the interchange. The only problem here is that building to the south on Claremont Road, but other than that it's all clear.

[rickmastfan67]

So to the south is PA 31. the land is all clear, and I'd say that a four lane interstate can be crammed through there. It'll just dip south west of Huckleberry Highway to the left of the photo and return to the alignment when PA 31 parallels I-76 for a couple of miles to the east (to the right, but you have to pan right/zoom out to see).

If they reroute it in any direction from the current tunnels, it will be 3 lanes each direction (6 total) at a minimum.  No way they would only have 4 lanes (2 each way) since they are widening all new reconstruction areas to 3 lanes each way.  They might add an extra 4 lane for truck climbing, but who knows.

[noelbotevera]

So to the south is PA 31. the land is all clear, and I'd say that a four lane interstate can be crammed through there. It'll just dip south west of Huckleberry Highway to the left of the photo and return to the alignment when PA 31 parallels I-76 for a couple of miles to the east (to the right, but you have to pan right/zoom out to see).

If they reroute it in any direction from the current tunnels, it will be 3 lanes each direction (6 total) at a minimum.  No way they would only have 4 lanes (2 each way) since they are widening all new reconstruction areas to 3 lanes each way.  They might add an extra 4 lane for truck climbing, but who knows.

I forgot to specify 4 total lanes. Oops. There could be a 3rd lane for a truck climbing lane, but the tunnels are high traffic, if it's possible they can cram it through with three lanes each way with a 4th for climbing/shoulder.

[cl94]

At this point, I see the PTC just cutting the corner by either doing a cut or building new tunnels on a straight-line alignment with the current western approach. This would bypass the sharp curve immediately east of the tunnels and shorten the next curve east.

[briantroutman]

I seem to recall reading in Dan Cupper's book that the Turnpike's never executed dual-dual plan would have kept the truck carriageways on the easier grades through the tunnels while car lanes would climb around them on bypass alignments. I wonder if this has been or could be considered as an option for Allegheny Mountain.

[davewiecking]

I seem to recall reading in Dan Cupper's book that the Turnpike's never executed dual-dual plan would have kept the truck carriageways on the easier grades through the tunnels while car lanes would climb around them on bypass alignments. I wonder if this has been or could be considered as an option for Allegheny Mountain.

My recollection of one of the issues they're trying to solve with the current alignment is that trucks with hazardous cargo can't go thru the tunnels, so need to exit and re-enter the Turnpike. Putting only trucks to the old tunnels is an interesting idea, but ignores this problem.

[cpzilliacus]

The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission is holding an "Online Public Meeting" at 7 PM on December 8, 2015 to discuss the new cashless tolling that will be implemented on the westbound side of the East-West Mainline (I-276 now, future I-95) just into Pennsylvania after crossing the Turnpike Bridge over the Delaware River from New Jersey.

Details (including online registration) here: https://www.webcaster4.com/Webcast/Page/1296/11515

[CanesFan27]

A blog post I did this morning that is  based off of some aerial photos of the Breezewood Interchange in 1958 and 1967.  It covers the early evolution - from what I gathered in my brief research for the post - the most disliked interchange in the country.

http://surewhynotnow.blogspot.com/2015/11/aerial-photos-of-breezewood-1958-and.html

[Zeffy]

NJ.com - Cashless Tolls coming to Pennsylvania Turnpike at NJ Crossing
http://www.nj.com/mercer/index.ssf/2015/12/cashless_tolls_coming_to_pa_turnpike_at_nj_crossin.html#incart_most_shared-mercer

[jeffandnicole]

NJ.com - Cashless Tolls coming to Pennsylvania Turnpike at NJ Crossing
http://www.nj.com/mercer/index.ssf/2015/12/cashless_tolls_coming_to_pa_turnpike_at_nj_crossin.html#incart_most_shared-mercer

There was a story in the Bucks County Courier Times last week.  A (normally clueless to begin with) co-worker was asking me about it, and thought the entire PA Turnpike was going cashless.  Then she didn't understand the whole I-95 thing being routed onto the Turnpike.

Personally, I'm thinking they're going to be having a pretty big fail rate on getting those license-plate tolling invoices paid.  They'll be dealing with a whole bunch of people that have paid tolls in NY, NJ, PA, OH, DE and/or MD (depending on their direction of travel), while bitching that they don't have to pay tolls in the rest of the country, and won't understand why they are being sent a ticket to pay another toll that they had to pay because they paid $50 in tolls already.

Yes, much of what I said isn't accurate.  But that's how those other drivers are going to see it though.  When the rest of the northeast switches to cashless tolling it'll make things a bit easier, but for now there's going to be a not of non-paying drivers continue to not pay when they get that bill.

[MrDisco99]

Would be great if, when tolls go cashless throughout, E-Z Pass could consolidate billing for the various agencies and send a unified bill.  There's so much that current technology can do to get rid of inefficiencies if only the state agencies would allow it.

[MASTERNC]

I was doing some digging on the PA Turnpike website this week.  A previously announced toll increase (I believe it is 6%) takes effect Sunday morning, at the same time AET is implemented at the Delaware River Bridge.

What is not noted, however, is that the toll rises significantly for westbound motorists who use the bridge (and might be comparable to eastbound motorists entering from Ohio).  For example, the toll from the bridge to Valley Forge will more than double from just over $4 currently to over $9 on Sunday ($5 bridge toll + Turnpike toll from new mainline plaza).