Road Enthusiast MeetsFrom time to time, those of us in the know get together to eat, chat about anything and everything, and tour something related to highways in various cities and towns across the country. Pennsylvania is the home of many firsts, including the first recorded meeting in Greensburg in February 1999 of which I was an attendee as well as the first National Road Enthusiast Meet in Pittsburgh in August 2006. Information on upcoming meets in Pennsylvania can be found below.
| SWPA25 Luciano's Italian Brick Oven 1212 Long Run Road (PA 48/Orange Belt) White Oak, PA 412-672-7428 Saturday, May 4 @ 11 AM https://lucianoswhiteoak.com/ |
This year marks a quarter-century since the first recorded road enthusiast meet in Greensburg, which was hosted by Bruce Cridlebaugh, Webmaster of Bridges & Tunnels of Allegheny County and Pittsburgh, PA. Later, the oldest series of meets in the hobby would be branded "SWPA" by Gribblenation's and Pittsburgh area native Adam Prince for any meet that took place in the southwestern corner of the state. So to commemorate this silver anniversary, the latest in the series will be this May with SWPA25.
Lunch will begin at Luciano's which is in of itself an important footnote in relation to roads as it sits close to the right-of-way of the long proposed but eventually cancelled "New 48" (a.k.a. the North-South Parkway). In fact, the Monroeville leg of the Mon-Fayette Expressway, which became the main route after the Pittsburgh leg was cancelled, can trace its roots to this cancelled roadway. During this part, we will be treated to a presentation by a speaker from the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission.
Upon leaving the restaurant, we will travel south and west through some of the Monongahela River towns which bore the brunt of the collapse of the steel industry in the 1980s en route to the section of PA Turnpike 43 currently under construction between PA 51 and PA 837.
Due to the changing nature of road closures in the path of the expressway, a finalized agenda will not be published here until closer to the day of the meet. While not part of the main touring portion of the meet, following it we will be checking out the Elizabeth Bridge and Boston Bridge if anyone is interested. Also, because this is the first Pittsburgh area meet since the collapse, and if there is enough interest, we can check out the new Fern Hollow Bridge.
If you are interested, please RSVP by April 20 via our Contact page or through the event's page on Facebook, so I may give the restaurant a total. Lunch will be $17.50/person and will include soup or salad, fountain drink, and for the main course, your choice of 3 slices of plain, pepperoni, sausage, mushroom, or white pizza. Since the restaurant doesn't do separate checks, please bring $20/person to cover the expense. Also, because gratuity is not included, any change left over can go towards a tip for the servers. If you have any dietary restrictions, please use the Contact page as well to let us know so we can make arrangements with the restaurant.
