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2011 Williamsport Meet Notes

After the 65th Little League World Series champion was crowned last month, the first Williamsport Road Enthusiast Meet was held this month, specifically today.  I’d like to thank all who attended and for making the trip for the 2011 Williamsport Meet, the first meet in north central Pennsylvania.

View of the Interstate 180/US 15 SPDI from my hotel room window, which was not part of the 2011 Williamsport Meet tour.
The newly refurbished Market Street Bridge and newly built Single Point Diamond Interchange in Williamsport.  Prior to construction of the interchange, US 15 exited farther south (or to the right of the picture) onto a then four-lane Via Bella to connect to the bridge.  Now that street is two lanes with roundabouts at various intersections.  It is expected that US 15 will be truncated here when Interstate 99 is signed north to New York.

The meet began as usual at 12 PM at the Bullfrog Brewery in downtown Williamsport.  The food was good as well as the conversations. Mike Pruett brought some Maryland official highway maps and I brought copies of the new Turnpike System map as well as some old copies of the Pennsylvania official highway map for everyone.

After lunch, we hopped in our cars and followed US 15 to see the improvements made to the corridor over the past decade in order for it to be designated Interstate 99.  There are numerous signs along the way denoting it as the “Future I-99 Corridor.”

The first stop of the 2011 Williamsport Meet was at the Cogan House interchange, just north of the PA 14 interchange.  What is interesting about this particular interchange is that the road that connects the two directions of US 15 are the original southbound lanes.  They needed to be replaced due to sharp curves at the bottom of the Steam Valley hill, but the section here was retained and turned into an interchange for Cogan House.

We continued north to the next stop, at the next interchange, at PA 184 in Steam Valley.  Prior to 2010, this was an at-grade intersection, but of course had to be upgraded to an interchange for the Interstate 99 designation to be applied.  In order to create the junction, the right-of-ways of both US 15 and PA 184 were changed.  As I mentioned above, the existing southbound lanes could not be used, so the new ones were shifted eastward and the alignment of PA 184 was shifted southward.  An interesting anomaly was created in that PA 184 technically doesn’t end at US 15, but rather just to the east of the diamond interchange at Steam Mill Road.

I asked the group if they wanted to clinch US 15 from Williamsport to the New York state line, and everyone agreed we might as well since we were that far north.  Crossing into New York, the roadway narrows down to two lanes through an interesting temporary interchange with very modern-looking light poles to illuminate the path.  We made the first right to head back into Pennsylvania onto a road that connects to the old route of US 15 now known as Steuben County Route 115.  Once in Lawrenceville, a few continued onto PA 287, which was extended northward after the expressway was completed to the west, and the rest onto PA 49 to head south on US 15.

The final stop of the 2011 Williamsport Meet tour was the beautiful Tioga Welcome Center, just south of the PA 287 interchange, which overlooks the Tioga Reservoir.  Many have compared the recent flooding in the northern part of the state to that seen in the wake of Hurricane Agnes in 1972.  That event was the impetus for construction of the reservoir, as the Allegheny Reservoir demonstrated the need by saving western Pennsylvania the destruction seen in the eastern part of the state.

I showed the group the original path below of US 15 through Tioga and how it’s alignment is now underwater.  Everyone was able to pick up brochures and maps.  Not only the 2010 official state one, but also the 2008 Trucker’s Guide to Pennsylvania.  It is a black-and-white version of the regular map.  However, the only colors on it denote the various truck routes.  Also included is specific information for “gear jockeys” such as low clearance points and locations of steep grades.  After taking the group picture there with the spectacular backdrop, we said our farewells, and headed to our respective destinations.

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The Big Roads Big Review

I decided to set off on my literary journey of The Big Roads with an open mind and my Pennsylvania Turnpike bookmark.  It seemed fitting considering I was reading a book about the Interstate System, and the Turnpike was one of the earliest segments of it that was completed.

When I say “an open mind” it is because I was a bit skeptical approaching reading this book. The reason being is there are many in the Pennsylvania Highways Library on the history of the Interstates.  However, in the Introduction, author Earl Swift hooked me with his description of the trip across the country which he took to research The Big Roads.  As part of that trip, he came through the southern portion of the Commonwealth on the historic Lincoln Highway.  Earl, his daughter, and a friend of hers stayed on the Lincoln through Buckstown to Ligonier and eventually onto Pittsburgh, “…crawling from one stoplight to the next…”  Unfortunately, that is a realistic description of travel down US 30 through Westmoreland and Allegheny counties!

The book takes readers on a journey, with a focus on persons who made the transition happen. Starting with Carl Fisher, a businessman in Indianapolis, who began his career selling bicycles. He then moved onto the “horseless carriage.”  To demonstrate the power of the car, he built a racetrack outside Indianapolis. Once it was repaved with brick, the power of the automobile could be exhibited in the way he intended.  He also got into the road-building business by backing the creation of the Lincoln Highway and its north-south counterpart, the Dixie Highway.

Along the way, author Swift introduces us to Thomas Harris MacDonald. Mr. MacDonald started his career in roads in Iowa by laying out their system. Then the Feds tapped him to do the same on a national scale.  We also meet Dwight D. Eisenhower, who in 1919 as a young Army officer, got a yearning for good roads after a cross-country trip on the Lincoln Highway.  Just under three decades later, he would experience superb roads — just not on this continent.

The one good road, whose idea and planning came from those Ike saw in Germany which were the forerunner of the Interstate System, was our very own Pennsylvania Turnpike. Just as safety was an impetus for the construction of the Interstates, the Turnpike was constructed to provide a safer alternative than the windy, mountainous, and narrow US 30. That was the primary route between Pittsburgh and the Mid-State area at the time.

Once Eisenhower got into the White House, he pushed for the need for high-speed, limited-access highways.  He had seen the Autobahn used by his military to speed across Germany en route to Berlin.  He did not need to look far for ideas. The Bureau of Public Roads had drawn up plans for such expressways; albeit tolled, while Ike was the Supreme Commander in World War II.

“The more things change, the more they stay the same” is a saying that often rings true.  When talking about the debate Congress had over the Federal Aid Highway Act, it rings like Big Ben at high noon.  Some legislators came out in favor of the plan. Others like Senator Albert Gore, the inventor of the Internet’s father, argued that it “…could lead the country to inflationary ruin.”  Senator Harry Byrd said that “…nothing has been proposed during my twenty-two years in the United States Senate that would do more to wreck our fiscal budget system.”  I’d hate to see what the “talking heads” on CNN, MSNBC, and Fox News would have said had those channels existed at the time.

The Big Roads is not just a reflection on how the highway system of the country changed, but how the country itself changed.  The Interstates allowed the movement of goods and people in a short amount of time. They did so safely without the worry of cross-streets, traffic signals, stop signs, or rail crossings.  These limited-access roadways all but eliminated head-on accidents in a uniform, monotonous drive devoid of local flavor.  They also allowed for the growth of cities by pushing the suburbs farther out. This helped in the creation of satellite cities along beltways and bypasses.  However, their paths into and through the cities would be a double-edged sword.

As I said in the beginning, I have other books on the Interstates and wondered how this book would differ.  My answer would come in the final chapters of the book.  The Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956 came into being just before the tumultuous 1960s. It was this period when the struggle for civil rights would reach its pinnacle.  Urban Interstate routes were once seen as a way to rejuvenate the nation’s cities.  At the same time, they were clearing out undesirable sections.  The problem was that those undesirable sections contained people. They did not want to lose their homes just so suburbanites could get downtown quicker.

One such person was a man by the name of Joe Wiles. Mr. Wiles lived in the Rosemont section of Baltimore, which was under attack by Interstate 70.  Mr. Wiles led a revolt against construction of I-70, which was both successful and unsuccessful.  His revolt had been initially successful when its planned route through the City of Baltimore cancelled. However, it was also unsuccessful because discussions of the impending expressway doomed Rosemont to neglect. Ironically, it had become the type of area that would be favorable as an Interstate corridor.

Black neighborhoods seemed to be under attack across the country. From Nashville where Interstate 40 was planned to isolate about 100 blocks from the City, to here in Pennsylvania where Interstate 695 in Philadelphia, known as the Crosstown Expressway, was to sequester black neighborhoods from Center City.  These seemed like classic examples of white men’s roads going through black men’s homes.

Interstate 695 through South Philadelphia was one proposed Interstate discussed in "The Big Roads."
Interstate 695 between the Schuylkill Expressway through South Philadelphia to Interstate 95 would have been the Crosstown Expressway. The segment shown on the map was proposed as the Cobbs Creek Expressway.

Those other books in the Library only talk about the positive aspects of the Interstates. They hardly discuss the turmoil they caused as they carved their way across the country.  I admire that Mr. Swift mentioned the issues of the urban routes through Baltimore, for example.  When I write about the history of a route, I, too, mention the negatives in addition to the positives.  I am glad to see a publication which does the same.

In conclusion, I would recommend The Big Roads. It is a well-rounded look at how we have progressed from roads that were narrow, dirt paths to today’s wide, concrete expressways.  It makes for a good read, especially stuck in traffic on one of the Interstates.

If you would like to purchase a copy, drive over to the Pennsylvania Highways Bookstore.

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2011 Official Turnpike Map

Today, the ribbon-cutting event for the latest section of Mon-Fayette Expressway occurred. Not only did I pick up several free bottles of water compliments of the Turnpike Commission, I picked up something I haven’t seen in years:  a new 2011 official Turnpike map.

The PTC’s “belt-tightening” in recent years led to them not printing a map. It is evident by looking at this one, as it is much smaller than its 2004 ancestor. The reason for this change is in a note below the legend:

To conserve natural and fiscal resources, our Travel Guide and Map is half the size of earlier editions. The new size also responds to a shift in how travelers — in an age of online maps and GPS devices — use printed maps today.

In addition, the map is not a PennDOT official. The Turnpike System is not highlighted in green, with a white-on-green Keystone shield denoting the route number. That was the standard since the 1980s.  It appears with these two changes that the Turnpike map is returning to its ones from the 1960s and 1970s, which were printed by Rand McNally and General Drafting.

The main map of Pennsylvania features images of postcards of the Turnpike at the top of the map. A mention of the 70 years of the Turnpike is in the corner, the milestone celebrated the year before.  One change I like is that the background of the border states are not pink or purple as they were on the 2004 map.

The back side of the map still includes information on E-ZPass and commercial trucking regulations.  There is toll information but just like the first run of tickets this year, there is no fare schedule. There are strip maps for the system. However, the insets of cities which the Turnpike passes through are no longer.  The following are changes since the 2004 edition:

Allegheny County/Washington County
PA Turnpike 576 completed between Interstate 376 and US 22

PA Turnpike 576 shown as completed on the 2011 official turnpike map

Beaver County/Lawrence County
Interstate 376 replaced PA Turnpike 60

Interstate 376 replaces PA Turnpike 60 on the 2011 official turnpike map

Fayette County
PA Turnpike 43 completed from Exit 15 to Exit 22

Fayette County/Washington County
PA Turnpike 43 under construction from US 40 to PA 88

PA Turnpike 43 completed from Exit 15 to Exit 22 and under construction from there to PA 88 on the 2011 official turnpike map

The Turnpike Commission has PDF versions of the strip maps for the mainline, PA Turnpike 376, and PA Turnpike 66; PA Turnpike 43; and PA Turnpike 576 available at their website.

The cover of the 2011 official Turnpike map features three postcards of various sections from the original Turnpike, with the logo of the 70th anniversary in the middle.

Cover of the 2011 Turnpike Travel Guide and Map
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Turnpike 43 FINALLY Opens to West Virginia

Tom Petty said the waiting is the hardest part, and the Turnpike Commission can attest to that musical proclamation.  The Mason-Dixon Link, which is the section from the state line to Exit 8 of the Mon-Fayette Expressway, was built in the late 1990s. The majority of it opened on March 1, 2000, to traffic.  The exception was the piece from the West Virginia state line to Exit 2. That would remain unopened for a little over a decade. The reason due to construction of WV 43 taking longer than projected because of finance issues.  Ironically, that problem would be solved during the economic downturn of the latter part of the 2000s. ARRA, or economic stimulus, dollars were provided to the states for “shovel-ready” projects. Today, PA Turnpike 43 finally opens to West Virginia!

Entering PA Turnpike 43 northbound via the off-ramp at Exit 2
Entering PA Turnpike 43 northbound at Exit 2 in a southerly direction to reach the site of the ribbon-cutting ceremonies.

At last, the time finally came to let that “new road smell” loose and allow vehicles other than construction company ones to drive across the state line.  There were two ribbon-cutting ceremonies held: one south of the Mason-Dixon Line and one north.

The West Virginia Department of Transportation was up first at 10:30 AM. They brought their starting line-up of dignitaries, including Senator Joe Manchin III and Governor Earl Ray Tomblin.  Below is footage of the West Virginia ceremony.

After the cutting of the ribbon, it was time to jump into the provided shuttle buses or your personal vehicle and head back north into Pennsylvania.  Our ribbon-cutting event was not as long nor as well attended by officials as West Virginia’s.

Local and state officials cutting the ribbon for PA Turnpike 43 at the state line
The people most responsible for the highway coming into existence are behind the sign, from left to right:  PTC Commissioner J. William Lincoln, new PTC CEO William K. Lieberman, Senator Richard Kasunic, and former Senator J. Barry Stout.

The ceremonies marking the end of the 11-year wait for the Mon-Fayette Expressway’s “Mason-Dixon Link” to finally cross the Mason-Dixon Line. In short, PA Turnpike 43 finally opens to West Virginia!

Officials Open Yet Another Part of Mon-Fayette Expressway – Greensburg Tribune-Review

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Follow Us on Foursquare!

Global Positioning Satellites, or GPS, has revolutionized the world.  Now with the help of GPS-enabled devices, being lost is quickly becoming obsolete.  Not only can people be found who were lost and possibly injured in the deepest wooded area, but drivers can find that hidden shortcut, and walkers and joggers can record their latest achievement.

One of the uses of GPS chips has been inclusion in cell phones over the past decade.  Aside from being able to locate you in the event of an emergency when calling 911, it can help navigate unfamiliar territory.  The advent of the smartphone has brought apps utilizing the GPS chip such as Google Maps and Foursquare.

“What is Foursquare?” you may ask.  It is a social networking platform like Twitter and Facebook, but unlike those websites, Foursquare gets you away from your computer and out exploring.  Users can “check in” to various locations from their cell phones, which earn them points and badges.  Check in more times at one place, and you will become “Mayor” of that location which might earn you a perk.

Foursquare is about where Twitter was two years ago.  It is on the cusp of being the “next big thing” in the world of Web 2.0.  Just as organizations jumped on the Twitter bandwagon, they are jumping, or I should say checking in, on the Foursquare bandwagon.  VisitPA (the Department of Tourism) has three badges, PA Retail Polka, PA 4 Score & 7, and PA Shooflyer, that users can earn by checking in at certain places around the Commonwealth.

Now Pennsylvania Highways has joined them, and Washington State Department of Transportation and Missouri Department of Transportation, with a Foursquare page.  It will be used to give tips on highway-related check in points such as the Squirrel Hill Tunnel or one of the Turnpike interchanges, but only read them on the website or let a passenger read them to you.  Perhaps a badge or two will be offered if Foursquare permits it in the future, but before you ask, there will not be a “Pothole Badge.”

https://foursquare.com/pahighways

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Winter 2010 SWPA Meet

It has been three years since there was a holiday edition of the longest running road enthusiast meets in southwestern Pennsylvania.  That and the streak of Saturday-only meets came to an end today with the Winter 2010 SWPA Meet.  I’d like to thank all who traveled both near and far to attend.  They did so even with the snow falling in the area and the winter storm churning up the Eastern Seaboard.

The meet began at 12 PM at the Route 40 Classic Diner on what is now Business US 40 in Brownsville.  Food was good as well as the conversations.  My Maryland counterpart, Mike Pruett, brought a copy of an old trails guide book.  It is a precursor to the modern road atlas, from the late 1920s, for everyone to peruse.  I brought some recent Pennsylvania official maps from 2006 to 2010.  Just in case anyone needed to fill gaps in their collections.

Since these holiday meets are on a smaller scale than the ones during warmer months, the tour was not too extensive.  After lunch, we headed down Business US 40 into Brownsville for a taste of the old National Road and to check out the work on connecting PA Turnpike 43 to the PA 88 expressway in West Brownsville.  The new alignment, which leaves PA 88, is quite evident as it swings east to cross the Monongahela River.  The former intersection of old and new PA 88 has been reconfigured to be a continual route through the future interchange.  This leaves up for debate whether PA 88 will be moved back to its former route into West Brownsville, or join with PA Turnpike 43 to US 40.

The cloverleaf at PA Turnpike 43 and US 40 is temporarily a partial one.  This is due to ongoing construction to upgrade the segment of PA 88 that will be incorporated into the expressway.  The northbound lanes are being rebuilt.  What is interesting is that the overhead gantry that was before the cloverleaf has been replaced with a blue, mono-tube gantry that is seemingly becoming standard on the roadway.

Back across the Lane Bane Bridge, we picked up the old road and stopped at the Searights Toll House.  Unlike the last Winter SWPA Meet, there were no broken windows nor damaged screen doors to report.  It was good to see that a security system was installed, as indicated by a sign by the entrance.  Here we said goodbye to half of the attendees and the rest of us continued east on US 40 to drive through the new PA Turnpike 43/US 119 stack interchange.  Afterward, we took the new route back to bring the Winter 2010 SWPA Meet to an end saying our farewells, and headed to our respective destinations.

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A Flyover Interchange Opens in Fayette County

The brisk morning of December 13 marked the beginning of the end for the long-awaited Uniontown-to-Brownsville section of the long-awaited Mon-Fayette Expressway.  It was then that the flyover interchange opens between PA Turnpike 43, US 119, and PA 51/Pittsburgh Street in Uniontown.

With the SWPA XMAS Meet a week away, I decided to make a trip to scout locations for the tour.  Unfortunately, I didn’t get there until dusk, so none of the pictures came out clearly enough to post.  The few that I did take, I was able to update the US 119 and PA Turnpike 43 Exit Guides.  The interchange itself is quite an impressive Semi-Directional “T,” with the diamond interchange with PA 51 underneath.  What is strange is that the ramp from US 119 northbound is only one lane.  It should be two since it is carrying the PA Turnpike 43 designation.

While both directions of US 119 have a diagrammatical sign for this complex junction, the guide sign for Turnpike 43 heading southbound on US 119 has the control cities of Brownsville and Pittsburgh, while northbound it is just Pittsburgh.

Diagramatical guide sign for the flyover interchange between PA Turnpike 43 and US 119
Guide sign on PA Turnpike 43 southbound approaching US 119.

As of now, there are no exit numbers for any of the interchanges between the Chadville Demonstration Project in South Uniontown and the new interchange at Pittsburgh Street.  Not surprising considering that there is only one PA Turnpike 43 marker on US 40 westbound/US 119 northbound.  It is located just before the Main Street interchange. While the US 40 and US 119 markers are posted together, the poor PA Turnpike 43 is by itself about 30 feet before the other two.  Poor PA Turnpike 43, ostracized by the black and white markers!  Heading southbound, there is only one mention of PA Turnpike 43 on a pull-through sign at the Main Street interchange.  Then there is nothing until the 40/119 split.  Only then is it denoted as PA 43 which it has since that section was completed almost two decades ago.

While the flyover interchange opens, the segment from it to Exit 15 at Northgate Highway also opened to traffic Monday.  Northbound traffic exiting and southbound traffic entering at that interchange will have to pay a toll.

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2010 Official Road Map

Today, I stopped at the welcome center on Interstate 70 at the Maryland state line in Warfordsburg and picked up a copy of the 2010 official road map.  I am surprised PennDOT even bothered to print one this late in the year that isn’t a “B” version, especially since there will be a new governor come Tuesday.  These are the changes since the 2009 edition, all of which involve the extension of Interstate 376:

Allegheny County/Pittsburgh Inset
Interstate 376 extended west beyond I-279 to multiplex with US 22/US 30 and replace PA 60
Interstate Business Loop 376 replaced Business PA 60

Interstate 376 extended and Interstate Business Loop 376 signed on the 2009 official road map.

Beaver County/Lawrence County/New Castle Inset
Interstate 376 replaced PA 60 and PA Turnpike 60

Interstate 376 replaces PA 60 and PA Turnpike 60 on the 2009 official road map.

Mercer County
Interstate 376 replaced PA 60
PA 760 replaced PA 60 from I-80 to Sharon

Interstate 376 replaces PA 60 and PA 760 signed in Mercer County.

Those are all the changes to the 2010 official road map. In addition, there are two mentions of the new 511 system:  one on the back cover under the list of welcome centers and another at the top next to the legend.

Rarely do I find an error on the official maps, but this year there is a blatant one near the junction of the Penn-Lincoln Parkway and PA 60 west of Pittsburgh.  A US 22/US 322 shield is located where there should be, and last year was, a US 22/US 30 shield.

It has the same dimensions as the previous year’s. However, this year’s cover features a view of Johnstown from the Inclined Plane station above the city in Westmont.

Cover of the 2010 Department of Transportation map
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2010 SEPA Meet

After a six-year hiatus, the second SEPA Road Enthusiast Meet was held today.  I’d like to thank all who attended and for making the trip for the 2010 SEPA Meet, which took the record for attendance at a Pennsylvania meet from the 2003 SWPA Meet.

View of US 422 from my hotel room window on the morning of the 2010 SEPA Meet
View of US 422, also known as the Pottstown Expressway, from my hotel room window that morning.

The 2010 SEPA Meet began as usual at 12 PM at the Sly Fox Brewhouse & Eatery, home of the Route 113 Indian Pale Ale, on what else, PA 113 in Phoenixville.  Some of the attendees did partake of the Route 113 IPA, or as PennDOT would call it, the SR 0113 Indian Pale Ale.  It just might end up being the official beverage for road enthusiasts over the age of 21.  The food was good as well as the conversations.

Many of the attendees brought road-related materials to peruse as well as to keep:  Adam Froehlig – various state official maps from Virginia, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania; Doug Kerr – I-87 Northway maps; and H. B. Elkins – goodie bags full of Kentucky maps and other Kentucky Transportation Cabinet paraphernalia.  I brought a planning map for the Keystone State’s Interstate System from the early 1960s for guests to view.  In 2006, I had acquired that from eBay.

After lunch, we hopped in our cars and followed PA 23 to the first stop, which was at the Philadelphia Traffic Management Center in the PennDOT District 6-0 headquarters in King of Prussia.  Thanks go to Len Pundt, who worked for PennDOT and who helped arrange the tour. The TMC, which was called the Traffic Control Center when I toured it in 2004, has been upgraded since then.  Two video walls show feeds from traffic cameras around Philadelphia, as well as content from the Internet and TV.  There was a bit of excitement as we were witness to an accident on the Platt Bridge, tying up traffic.  Accidents seems to have become a constant with Pennsylvania meets involving a traffic management center tour.

Continuing east on PA 23, we stopped at the Schuylkill Parkway overpass just north of Bridgeport.  Len described what was to have happened with that project.  It would have been the eastern end of the “Goat Path” Expressway, which was to begin in Lancaster.  Len provided some background on this abandoned project.  One of its current uses is as a driver training course for the State Police.  He explained PennDOT’s funding issues, which led to it cancelling this and numerous other expressway projects in the 1970s.  One of the points he made was that cancelling these projects did initially save money.  However, there is no way to build these to solve the traffic issues of the 21st Century.  Right-of-way acquisition alone would be astronomically high to carve these highways through dense urbanized areas.

We bid Len adieu and took I-276/PA Turnpike eastbound to PA 309 northbound to observe some of the rehabilitation project.  Work has been taking place since 2003 along the Fort Washington Expressway.  As soon as joining the expressway, we experienced a vastly improved roadway from the one that had been serving commuters since it was built as a new alignment for US 309.  We encountered the last remaining section to be undergoing rehabilitation heading north and exited in the construction zone at Norristown Road to go west to Bethlehem Pike.  That roadway was the pre-expressway route of US 309.  Traveling north to Cedar Hill Road allowed us to view the progress on the northernmost segment from an overpass.

After stopping at the overpass to see the work, we continued northeast to PA 63 then turned northwest to go to the intersection with US 202 to see the progress on the US 202 Parkway project.  A new alignment is underway at PA 63 and work is taking place south along the current alignment.

We passed some of the work along US 202 as we headed back to the Sly Fox Brewhouse & Eatery to conclude the 2010 SEPA Meet. Back at the restaurant, we said our farewells and headed to our respective destinations.

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Welcome to Pennsylvania…NOW PAY UP!

The Federal Highway Administration vetoed the Commonwealth’s plan to put tolls on Interstate 80 to help fill the potholes in PennDOT’s budget.  Since then, ideas on how to accomplish that feat in a different manner have been flying fast and furious.  Any plan will mean drivers will pay more.  The task of finding $472 million was taken up by three state representatives: Bill Kortz of Allegheny County, Michael O’Brien of Philadelphia, and Scott Conklin of Centre County.  Their idea?  Tolls!  What a welcome to Pennsylvania for drivers.

Their idea is officially called Special Session House Bill 2 or “Gateway Tolling for Transportation Independence Today.”  It would have toll plazas constructed at the state lines on Interstates 78, 79, 80, 81, 84, 90, and 95.  Traffic entering and exiting would be charged anywhere between $1 for passenger vehicles to $5 for trucks.  Residents near the borders could buy a book of tickets at a reduced price to give them a cheaper toll.  However, trucking companies based within Pennsylvania would be entirely exempt from paying.  The toll booths would be manned by PennDOT, not PTC, employees.  They would offer coin-drop baskets as well as E-ZPass gantries equipped with video cameras to capture violator’s license plates who would receive a bill in the mail.

These tolls would basically be a “user fee” paid by those who drive said Interstates, for maintenance of said Interstate.  Tolling currently free Interstates whose construction was funded 90% by the federal government is allowed to provide for maintenance, and only maintenance.  The plan to toll Interstate 80 would have siphoned money off for other transportation-related projects, which is not allowed.  Representative Coklin estimates that between $235 million and $300 million a year could be raised for the Department of Transportation.

The proposal faces two roadblocks:  passage by the special session of the Legislature and a stamp of approval from the Federal Highway Administration.  Since the proposal would need their approval, the process for implementation could take several years.  Therefore, the idea might not provide immediate results.

So “Welcome to Pennsylvania”…for free…for now.

Welcome to Pennsylvania Sign/Fare Schedule

New Plan to Toll Roads Proposed – Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

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