Pennsylvania Highways Blog

Community Day on the Expressway

nospam@example.com (Webmaster) — 2008-10-11T22:23:00Z

Today was the latest installment of the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission's "Community Day on the Expressway" event, taking place just outside of Uniontown on the newest section of the Mon-Fayette Expressway. It is a nice event that the PTC holds prior to opening a new section of expressway as a public preview of the new highway and make it a real community gathering.

The day started off with a "Modes of Transportation" parade down the alignment at 10 AM. There were food vendors and a children's area with balloon art courtesy of Airheads and the Rainbow Expressway trackless train. For the road enthusiasts, there were informational booths from the Turnpike Commission and the National Road Heritage Corridor.

Steps to a Healthier Fayette County sponsored a Family Fun Walk which began an hour earlier. The public was welcome to walk or bike the four miles of roadway, but you could also take a shuttle bus and get a quicker view of Turnpike 43.

This is the first section for which I attended the groundbreaking and Community Day.

Residents Get Close-Up View of Expressway - Uniontown Herald Standard

Route 30: The Movie

nospam@example.com (Webmaster) — 2008-07-21T22:15:18Z

The sections I drive could be classified as horror, but comedy is the genre of John Putch's independent movie Route 30. The Chambersburg native filmed the movie along the highway last October with such stars as Dana Delany of Desperate Housewives and Curtis Armstrong best known to audiences as Herbert Viola on Moonlighting. Fellow Lincoln Highway Heritage Corridor board member Ed Gotwalt, owner of Mister Ed's Elephant Museum, also has a part.

The premier of the movie will be at the Majestic Theatre in Gettysburg on September 27, 2008 at 8 PM with a cast and crew Q&A to follow. Tickets to the screening are $16 per person and a portion of the proceeds benefit the Lincoln Highway Heritage Corridor and Totem Pole Playhouse non-profit organizations. You can purchase tickets at the Totem Pole Playhouse, Mister Ed's Elephant Museum, Majestic Theatre, or online.

http://www.route30movie.com/

LET'S GO...PENNSYLVANIA!

nospam@example.com (Webmaster) — 2008-05-04T21:54:25Z

It was just a couple weeks ago that the Commonwealth was thrust into the political spotlight when we held our primary. Well it's another month, and another spotlight as both the Pittsburgh Penguins and Philadelphia Flyers will meet in an old fashioned Turnpike battle in the NHL's Eastern Conference Final.

Both teams won their respective series four games to one; Penguins finishing off the New York Rangers today, and the Flyers beat the Montréal Canadiens last night.

So while our roads may be the Second Worst in the country, no matter how you slice it, the Commonwealth will be represented in the Stanley Cup Finals. Personally, I'm hoping the "march of the Penguins" continues.

Winter 2007 SWPA Meet Notes

nospam@example.com (Webmaster) — 2007-12-23T17:14:17Z

Saturday was the latest edition of the longest running road enthusiast meets and I'd like to thank all who traveled both near and far to attend.

The meet began at 12 PM at Garfield's in the Uniontown Mall on US 40 near the US 119 interchange. The food and conversation was excellent as always. I provided each attendee with a copy of the 2007 PennDOT map.

After the lunch portion, we headed down US 40 to see the newBrownsville Connector. We decided to make the Searights Toll House the first stop, and it's best that we did. I noticed that one of the windows appeared to be open. Upon further examination, it wasn't open but rather someone had taken one of the bricks from the steps and smashed the window. Also the screen door at the entrance had been ripped and pulled at in several places. The police were called and they said they'd notify the proprietors.

The next stop was to see the new US 40 connector that just opened east of Brownsville. What struck those of us who attended the 2006 gathering was that the former partially constructed interchange just north of PA 166 where US 40 traffic had to turn to continue has been replaced by an at-grade intersection. Even though last year, we noticed grading for what appeared to be the other entrance/exit ramps had taken place which is noted on the US 40 page. Also, PA 166's northern terminus has not moved to intersect the new US 40 alignment, but still ends at the former intersection a block to the south. There is grading for the future PA Turnpike 43 interchange which will be a temporary end until the loop around Brownsville is completed.

Heading back to Uniontown, we took a small detour over a new connector road that has been built between PA 51 and US 40 and will also serve an interchange of PA Turnpike 43. It is five lanes wide (four travel lanes and a center turn lane), and it was built through the location where I attended the groundbreaking for the Uniontown/Brownsville section seen on the PA Turnpike 43 page.

We took PA 43/PA Turnpike 43 south and stopped at the current end at Gans Road before continuing south into West Virginia to see how they are progressing on their section. From PA 857/WV Secondary 857, you can see the bridge on the state line has been finished complete with a "Welcome to West Virginia" sign gantry at the southern end. Turning off onto Morgan's Run Road we got an up-close look at another pair of spans taking shape and saw a completed section of WV 43 with signage already installed. Back at 857 we kept heading south to the Cheat Lake interchange to see the construction taking place in preparation of the directional T interchange between I-68 and WV 43.

After turning around we headed back to Garfield's where we said our goodbyes, Merry Christmases, Happy New Years, and headed to our respective destinations.

Looking to the Past, Planning For the Future

nospam@example.com (Webmaster) — 2007-10-24T22:51:54Z

One of the things that we're not that good about in Pennsylvania is planning for the future. Tonight myself and others in my area decided to do something about that. During this week, Smart Growth Partnership of Westmoreland County has been holding a public Charrette at the University of Pitt at Greensburg campus.

We were put into groups and asked to evaluate different plans for the area of US 30 in Latrobe near the shopping centers. The first plan would create almost another town along 30 from PA 981 to PA 982 which no one liked because the minimum building height would be six stories. Obviously this would destroy the views of the Laurel Ridge and trying to keep the area rural. The second plan would be to keep more of the area in a rural setting but enhance the existing developments along the corridor. The third plan would be a "Greenway" solution where most of the businesses would be removed and more of the area returned to a natural state.

While most seemed to prefer the latter, I was in favor of the second plan. The first plan and last plan would eliminate the shopping areas of Latrobe 30 Plaza, Mountain Laurel Plaza, Wildcat Commons, and Unity Plaza. Stores such as Giant Eagle and Wal*Mart would be gone. I highly doubt Wal*Mart will have gone the way of Montgomery Wards by the year 2020. Although people probably said the same about Wards in 1980 so who knows.

I also threw out the idea of completely bypassing current US 30 with an expressway to remove the through traffic from the highway and sign the current alignment as Business US 30. Actually not my idea, but the "Route 30 Relocation" proposal from the Pittsburgh Area Transportation Plan devised in the 1960s. An existing demonstration of this can be seen between Sadsburyville and Exton where the current 30 is an expressway and the original is a business route. Then you could redesign any area along the corridor without having as much traffic as before to contend with. However, my idea was shot down...again. Oh well, so much for trying to undo past mistakes.

Route 30 Masterplan - Smart Growth

2007 Official Pennsylvania Map

nospam@example.com (Webmaster) — 2007-08-12T00:27:16Z

Last month I received a copy of the latest official state highway map from the Map Sales office just before the state shut down over not being able to pass a budget. Here are the changes since 2006's edition:

Allegheny County/Washington County/Pittsburgh inset:
PA Turnpike 576 completed between US 22 and PA 60

Berks County:
US 222 shown as completed now with the red expressway stripe between PA 272 and Shillington

Fayette County:
PA Turnpike 43 indicated under construction north of US 40 from US 119 to Brier Hill

Tioga County:
US 15 indicated as under construction from PA 49 to New York

Altoona inset:
Osgood Drive completed on the eastern side of I-99/US 220 between Exit 32 and Exit 33

New Castle inset:
PA 65 removed between PA 108/PA 168 and Business US 422

It has the same dimensions as the the previous years and this year's cover is from America's Most Livable City, with a man creating a mural in chalk on the West End overlook. You can see the cover on the Official State Highway Maps page and view the map at PennDOT's GIS page.

ROADS! and TV!

nospam@example.com (Webmaster) — 2007-05-03T23:00:31Z

I’ve always had an interest in broadcasting from building a small AM radio station with a Radio Shack 130-in-one Project Kit to when I entered college and got a degree in Communication.

With the advent of digital television and the world of multicasting opening to broadcasters, many are utilizing their new bandwidth for other programming in addition to the main channel. PBS affiliates are broadcasting other PBS-branded channels such as Create and other affiliates have created local channels such as WQED's Neighborhood Channel which airs a lot of Rick Sebak's Pittsburgh documentaries. NBC affiliates are co-branding the NBC Weather Plus for their local markets.

WTAE-4 launched their Weather & Traffic Watch 4 channel in the Spring utilizing AccuWeather content. Since I have an interest in roads as well as weather, it piqued my interest. It isn’t really anything too groundbreaking as the Traffic.com information is in a crawl at the bottom of the video portion of the screen and sometimes they will show video from PennDOT's traffic cameras.

However, this made WPXI-11 kick it up a notch to where they are now providing traffic information during the local inserts on their Weather Plus channel. The difference is that they use Traffic.com’s flow maps to illustrate traffic conditions instead of a continual crawl.

Even The Weather Channel provides traffic information during the "Local on the 8's" segment, but only available to cable subscribers. The new IntelliStar systems installed at the headends will feed the information during the local segments on the main Weather Channel and around the clock on their Weatherscan channel.

The idea isn’t new as San Antonio, Texas has had a low-power TV station owned by TxDOT broadcasting traffic cameras since 1996.

To see either of Pittsburgh’s traffic information channels, watch them directly from WPXI's and WTAE's sites.

We’re Number One! Again!

nospam@example.com (Webmaster) — 2007-05-02T21:58:21Z

It has been 22 years since the last time Pittsburgh was named the “Most Livable City” by the “Places Rated Almanac.”

Let me put that in some perspective. The last time it was given this designation, a Republican was in the White House, people were talking about competing video formats and wondering which to buy, and MTV played music videos. Well, as Meatloaf said, “two out of three ain’t bad.” Let’s put it another way, the last time Pittsburgh was number one, the mayor was five!

The ranking was devised through several categories: housing affordability (cost of living), transportation, jobs, education, climate, crime, health care, recreation, and ambience (museums, performing arts, restaurants and historical districts).

I can see housing costs, after all it was only in the past few years that housing crested the $100K mark. Education since there are about 20-30 colleges and universities within a 50 mile radius of the city, crime is relatively low for the size of the city, health care with UPMC and other hospitals in Oakland, recreation with it sitting right next to the Laurel Highlands and the rivers, and ambience which will increase once Mellon Arena 2 or whatever it’s called, opens will add to that ranking. However, the others I can’t understand. Transportation is limping along especially with the Port Authority hemorrhaging money and job creation is lackluster with the exception of Google that opened at Carnegie Mellon University. Then there is the climate of which we were in the deep freeze for most of April, but basking in 60-degree temperatures in December.

For all the pros and cons it has, Pittsburgh is a decent city. It’s not too big and it’s not too small, like Baby Bear’s bed in “Goldilocks and the Three Bears.”

Pittsburgh Rated "Most Livable" Once Again - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Rendell to Media: I Can't Drive 55

nospam@example.com (Webmaster) — 2007-04-26T21:50:05Z

I will admit that I am not the best driver in the world, but no one is perfect. I have also fractured an occasional traffic law in my 14 years behind the wheel.

In light of New Jersey Governor Corzine's accident, our own Governor Rendell was asked about the behavior of the state trooper behind the wheel of his car. He acknowledged that his personal vehicle sometimes exceeds the speed limit. He went on to say, "Sometimes we adhere to the speed limit, sometimes we don't. On many of Pennsylvania's highways, if you adhered to the speed limit, you'd be a safety hazard."

In that case I want all of my fines repaid because I was trying to not be a safety hazard! Especially the time on April 6, 2001 at 1:43 AM where two from the Belle Vernon barracks almost ran me off PA Turnpike 43 to extort $180 (originally $190, but they were so "generous" at the trial...sheesh). I should also note that they tailgated me for two miles in a construction zone with no lights or siren on, and only caught me because I had to exit. Nice work, Starsky and Hutch!

Not to mention that they laughed the whole time they filled out the ticket, and screwed up two items they had to correct. My license picture wasn't the greatest, but I didn't think it was that funny. However, what I think is hilarious is that I didn't have my seat belt on, and only put it on when they went back to their car to whoop it up over my license, registration, and insurance. Now THAT is funny...screwed yourselves out of an additional $50 because you were so enraged I stated the observation of "You came up on me pretty fast," but I digress.

Back to the subject at hand: Sometimes? That's rich! Back in 2004, the Philadelphia Daily News reported that troopers had clocked Rendell's Cadillac at speeds of more than 100 MPH nine times along the Pennsylvania Turnpike. A State Trooper behind the wheel doing 35 over the limit! That is five points and a departmental hearing and sanctions under Section 1538(d). Tisk tisk. You better fill a ticket out on yourself since I always thought that was against the law, but I guess it is do as I say, don’t do as I do, right? Oh well, in that case as George Costanza once said, “There’s no laws in this place. Anything goes! It’s Thunderdome!”

The police are supposed to set an example on the highways by keeping and maintaining discipline just like my teachers did in school. Speeding and driving aggressively are like teachers shooting spitballs at kids and passing notes. Well, that last one is a bad example with all the teacher/student affairs going on recently.

After the story broke, Governor Rendell instituted a policy ordering his drivers to abide by the speed limit except in emergencies. Note to self: use that excuse next time. He even told the Harrisburg Patriot-News, "I've told my troopers that I don't want them exceeding 80 unless they need to pass, or unless there's some real exigent circumstance." There's my excuse: there is some real exigent circumstance. There also seems to be a standing "exigent circumstance" at a sports bar near my parent's house as I get passed on US 30 when driving to it and sure enough those who blew past me are turning into the parking lot.

There are various manners of speed detection such as VASCAR (big name for a stopwatch and math) gives an 11 MPH cushion, radar (which only State Police can use) allows a 6 MPH cushion, and if a trooper is behind you, they can give you a ticket for just one mile over. What they don’t tell you is it has to be for 9/10ths of a mile at the same speed, so keep adjusting your speed if you find a Smokey in your rear-view mirror.

Rendell Admits Frequent Flying on the Freeway - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Get Your Kicks on Route 76...276...476

nospam@example.com (Webmaster) — 2007-02-15T22:54:05Z

Due to the snow/ice storm that hit the Commonwealth, numerous vehicles were stranded along I-78, I-80, and I-81. PennDOT has closed down sections of those Interstates to clear the vehicles as well as snow. They are asking cross-state traffic to use the Turnpike's mainline and Northeast Extension as alternate routes. For the first time since the first day of the collector strike in 2004, tolls are being waived on those sections of the Turnpike System.

Toll Waiving - Disaster Emergency - PTC

Winter Storm Wreaks Havoc Across Pennsylvania

nospam@example.com (Webmaster) — 2007-02-15T22:43:22Z

From North to South, and East to West, there was no hiding from the
wrath of Mother Nature the past two days. Whatever your mode of
transportation was, it was either slowed or outright stopped as the
first major storm of 2007 made its trek towards the Atlantic. The
following is a round-up of road-related stories from all points
inside the Keystone State.

NWPA
Keeping Snow Away from the Street
http://www.wicu12.com/news/index.vnss?newsid=2923&type=News

Snowy Side Streets Trap Drivers, Towing Warning
http://www.wjettv.com/news/default.asp?mode=shownews&id=7122

NEPA
Roads Called "Horrible"
http://www.wnep.com/global/story.asp?s=6089340

Interstates Closed for Icy Conditions
http://www.wnep.com/global/story.asp?s=6093785

Storm Brings Mixed Bag
http://www.sungazette.com/News/articles.asp?articleID=14819

SEPA
Colossal Traffic Mess Strands Motorists For Hours
http://cbs3.com/local/local_story_046074755.html

Logjam Gone, But I-78 Closed
http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=local&id=5036181

Hundreds Stranded on Interstate 78
http://www.abc27.com/news/stories/0207/397612.html

SWPA
Valentine's Day Storm Causes Treacherous Commute
http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/weather/11008574/detail.html

Local Woman's Frightening Ordeal On I-78 Ends
http://kdka.com/topstories/local_story_046135436.html

Crash in Snow Causes I-79 Closure
http://www.wpxi.com/video/11014926/index.html

Rendell Declares State of Emergency
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07046/762430-100.stm

Where I live east of Pittsburgh, or "ice-burgh," we received about 7
inches and it would have been more if the precipitation didn't turn
to freezing rain through Wednesday morning. Even taking public
transportation wasn't a choice as the T through the South Hills was
shut down due to ice on its overhead wires. When I checked my e-mail this morning, I had almost 130 travel bulletins from the PTC and PennDOT!

New Year, New URL

nospam@example.com (Webmaster) — 2007-01-09T01:13:04Z

The new year has brough a new URL for the Pennsylvania Highways Blog: http://www.pahighways.com/blog/.

I never liked the "cblog" directory because it did not make any sense, and it did not look right in an address bar. However, that is what my provider had set it to default to during installation. So I decided to tinker with the settings a little and see if I could change them to what I would like to see. Viola! No more cblog folder!

We're Not Number 1!

nospam@example.com (Webmaster) — 2006-12-18T20:23:33Z

The yearly survey of truck drivers and readers of Overdrive magazine has been released. I can now say, as well as the index page say, that Pennsylvania's highways are no longer the worst in the country. Yes, you read that correctly, no longer the worst in the country.

Pennsylvania has relinquished that title to Louisiana, and before you say it, it has nothing to do with Hurricane Katrina. While the storm did damage roadways along the coast, especially the I-10 bridges that cross Lake Pontchatrain, the rest of the state has no excuse and has bounced around the top five worst for years now.

Considering everything that is working against PennDOT:

1. Most if not all traffic between New England and the rest of the country pass through here
2. Having to maintain the same amount of state routes that is in all of New England
3. Freeze-thaw cycle
4. Federal highway money being siphoned off to prop up mass transit

It is not as if PennDOT is in the throws of their fiscal crisis of the 1970s and 1980s. They have been building new expressways such as US 222 in Reading and rebuilding highways such as the Fort Washington Expressway.

When it comes to snow removal and surface treatment, they are on their game. Just recently there was a small snow event that came through Western Pennsylvania. The state routes were clear and traffic was moving fine, but once onto the city streets of Latrobe, it was like a skating rink.

Again this year, I and the site were mentioned in the article. I wasn't too pleased with it being described as a "watchdog site." While in a way it is a watchdog site in that I have to watch what they do so I can change the information here accordingly, the term makes it sound as if I am staking out construction projects or maintenance yards watching for malfeasance.

Anyway, next time you driving through a construction zone, just keep saying to yourself, "We're not number one!"

Rougher Than a Corncob - Overdrive

It's a Road, Charlie Brown!

nospam@example.com (Webmaster) — 2006-10-16T18:59:59Z

I've always enjoyed the comic strip "Peanuts" and watching the yearly specials that air around the holidays. I even had a dog named Snoopy, but he already had that name before my family adopted him.

Today's strip, which originally ran October 19, 1959 hit even closer to home. I, much like most little boys, liked to play in the dirt with my toy trucks, mimicing what I saw in the adult world. With my interest in roads, I'd usually end up "building" or "repairing" one made of mud.

Since it was 1959, I wonder if Linus is "building" one of those "new" Interstates people were talking about.

It's Their Party, and They'll Toll if They Want To

nospam@example.com (Webmaster) — 2006-10-07T23:47:00Z

Today was Community Day on the Findlay Connector (PA Turnpike 576/Southern Beltway), but my second visit to the completed roadway. However, unlike during the National meet, the State Police did not chase me off the expressway.

The event was much like the first one I attended, and the first the PTC did, prior to PA Turnpike 66 opening. There were food booths and entertainment in the form of at Exit 2/US 30. The PTC had a booth with information on the entire Southern Beltway project, Turnpike maps, and E-ZPass applications. Port Authority buses made continual loops of the six-mile-long section between PA 60 and US 22, that will open this Wednesday, for people to see the expressway, while others hiked and biked the alignment. Pictures of the event will be posted on the updated PA Turnpike 576 page that will debut on Wednesday.

Getting Around: Did You Too Miss the Turnpike's Party on Route 576? - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette