Path of Progress National Heritage Tour Route

A pilot segment of the Heritage Route between Johnstown and Altoona, and later incorporated into the final route, was dedicated in April 1992.  The purpose of this section was so ideas could be tested and input gained from visitors and residents to plan the remainder of the route.  A survey was conducted that same year, which provided valuable information for future planning.

A rendering of the marker used to designate the pilot segment of the Heritage Route between Johnstown and Altoona. (Southwestern Pennsylvania Heritage Preservation Commission)

The roads selected for the route were chosen due to their meeting certain standards because visitors could be using a wide variety of vehicles.  Wherever possible, these roads would accomplish the following:

• Provide users with a clear and navigable route which accesses sites essential to a complete understanding of the region's heritage.  The selected roads would avoid predictable delays or confusion and provide a logical connection between sites.


• Enhance and provide cohesion to visitor experiences in the region.  Wherever reasonable and appropriate, the route should incorporate existing designated historic routes, such as the Lincoln Highway and the National Road, or other historic transportation routes through the region, such as Native American trails, military roads/early turnpikes, and canal or railroad routes.  In addition, the route should use roads that reach designated historic districts and provide opportunities for the interpretation of visual resources, such as scenic or cultural landscapes, wherever these represent or create cohesion to the region's heritage.


• Provide visitors with a series of federal, state, or county roads that are safe and accessible.  The roadways selected would use traffic engineering specifications such as speed limit designations, climbing and deceleration lanes on steep grades for oversize vehicle use, and passing zones.  These roads should connect to arterial, collector, and local roads to provide visitors opportunities to reach additional points of interest within the region.


• Meet the following guidelines suggested by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation:  have a minimum width of 20 to 24 feet, be under state ownership, have no weight limits, use no bridges with weight or height limits, avoid steep grades and sharp curves, and should not be limited-access highways where sign restrictions occur.

If many roads provided equal opportunities to meet the needs of the route, consideration was given to additional factors important to the use of the Heritage Route.  Whenever feasible, selection of roads for the route were decided by utilizing regional visitor patterns to increase opportunities to use the Heritage Route.  Not to mention, the route used roads that had existing visitor services along them to assist and encourage using the Heritage Route to explore the region.

In some cases, the Heritage Route might not link significant resources and sites that are scattered amongst the region.  Extensions were devised as a way to connect those to the main route.  The roads selected had to meet the same criteria as that used to select the ones comprising the main route.  They were allowed to be any length, but any more than 15 miles was frowned upon.

The highways and sites which made up the initial development of the main route of the Heritage Route in 1994 were compiled by the commission staff, National Park Service project team, county heritage committees, State Heritage Park staff, and other partners including the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission, and America's Industrial Heritage Project sites.  These parties had reached a consensus on the roadways proposed to be used and sites that met the requirements for the interpretive, informative and physical features of the Heritage Route, and provided a comprehensive understanding of the region's heritage.

The set of roads and sites, and any alternative combinations, were evaluated in an environmental assessment prior to development.  Any modifications or additions to the main route were to be managed according to procedures included in the operations and maintenance manual, which was created in 1994.

To assist in guiding travelers along the Heritage Route, color-coded or shape-coded signs would direct them in either a clockwise or counter-clockwise route.  The latter was selected with square markers denoting travel in a clockwise direction and circular markers indicating travel in a counter-clockwise direction.  Just prior to deployment, the name was changed to the Path of Progress National Heritage Tour Route in 1994.  Finally, the system was unveiled in 1995 with route markers being posted that year.

Whereas brochures and maps were available at the historic sites along the way which showed the Heritage Tour Route were plentiful in the 1990s and into the early 2000s, by the middle of the 2000s they had fallen by the wayside due to funding constraints.  Contrast that with the efforts of the late US Representative John Murtha of Cambria County, who was able to deliver $63 million in funding to the organization between 1989 and 1993.  Finally, on November 18, 2008, the Commission was sunset.  Most of the markers showing the old route have been either removed or stolen since, but there are still some along the way that have survived.

Signed in 1995.

Signed in 1995.

Signed in 1995.

Signed in 1995.

Signed in 1995.