80th anniversary of Pennsylvania Turnpike

[US71]

a look back at the Pennsylvania Turnpike on its 80th anniversary.

[roadman65]

a look back at the Pennsylvania Turnpike on its 80th anniversary.

You beat me to it.  I saw the same link on Facebook that I would post, but it is out already.

[ixnay]

I'd love to see a link to historical toll rates on the PaTP and other toll roads and crossings, particularly the ticketed segments.  What, for example, would have been the rate from Downingtown (PA 100) to "Pittsburgh" (today's I-376/US 22) in 1978?

ixnay

[TheKnightoftheInterstate]

Happy 80th Birthday PA Turnpike!

Back when my Commonwealth was on the cutting edge when it came to roads!

[Henry]

Happy 80th to the World's Greatest Highway!

[02 Park Ave]

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=pennsylvania+turnpike+i+love+you+so&docid=608005294424851691&mid=4883C76938736D971ECA4883C76938736D971ECA&view=detail&FORM=VIRE

[The Ghostbuster]

I've never traveled along the Pennsylvania Turnpike, and perhaps I never will. Although to think the Turnpike has now existed for 80 years is mind-boggling. The Pennsylvania Turnpike is only six years younger than my stepfather, who is 86.

[Buffaboy]

Saw that on Wikipedia last night

[cpzilliacus]

I've never traveled along the Pennsylvania Turnpike, and perhaps I never will. Although to think the Turnpike has now existed for 80 years is mind-boggling. The Pennsylvania Turnpike is only six years younger than my stepfather, who is 86.

The Pennsylvania Turnpike (and the slightly newer turnpike it connects to in the east at the Delaware River—Turnpike Toll Bridge, the New Jersey Turnpike) might well be the two most-distinctive long (over 100 miles) state toll roads in the United States. The distinctive signs on both are mostly gone, yet they still offer travelers a freeway trip that is not replicated elsewhere in the United States.

That trip is not cheap, at about $45 for an auto with E-ZPass transponder in Pennsylvania, and in New Jersey about $16, and another $14 to cross the George Washington Bridge into New York City.

[SteveG1988]

Went down it from New Stanton to Carlisle, amazing to think of how old it it is, the Tuscaora Mtn tunnel has it's ceiling gone eastbound now too. A new era in the tunnels is beginning.

[1995hoo]

We used the Ohio and Pennsylvania Turnpikes yesterday from I-680 to Somerset. I hadn't been on the mainline Pennsylvania Turnpike since 2013 (I did use the Northeast Extension in June 2019) and I hadn't been on the Ohio Turnpike since 1987. The three-lane segments on the Pennsylvania Turnpike are a huge improvement over how the road used to be, and they make the two-lane segments all the more frustrating.

[cpzilliacus]

We used the Ohio and Pennsylvania Turnpikes yesterday from I-680 to Somerset. I hadn't been on the mainline Pennsylvania Turnpike since 2013 (I did use the Northeast Extension in June 2019) and I hadn't been on the Ohio Turnpike since 1987. The three-lane segments on the Pennsylvania Turnpike are a huge improvement over how the road used to be, and they make the two-lane segments all the more frustrating.

Imagine how much faster the six-lane segments of the Penn Pike would be happening if not for the handiwork of corrupt former Pennsylvania state senator Vince Fumo (D-1, Philadelphia County) [Fumo was forced to resign after being indicted on federal corruption charges and served several years in the federal prison system].  Fumo is the guy that came up Act 44, with sucking billions of dollars out of Pennsylvania Turnpike customers to subsidize the state's transit systems, none of which have anything to do with the Turnpike.  The original Fumo scheme was to extract the money from I-80 drivers by turning it over to the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission, but that was rejected by the George W. Bush and Obama Administrations, so plan B was giant toll increases on the existing PTC network to fund those transit subsidies.

[epzik8]

This highway was groundbreaking.

[roadman65]

I remember in 1990 when the Turnpike had banners in New Stanton celebrating its 50th Golden Anniversary then.  I even have a cool VHS movie of the Turnpike mailed to me from PTC in 1999.  It showcased the entire Turnpike from its heyday to the present time.  Real neat.

[zzyzx]

The Sideling Hill Plaza has a display of images throughout the decades of the Turnpike:



The AACA museum in Hershey also has a history of road maps display including some from the early days of the Turnpike: