Abandoned PA Turnpike

I take it this stretch is part of the fabled Pennsylvania Turnpike mentioned often in driving magazines. Sounds like a cool idea.

Absolutely it is.

Every year through the mid 60's we drove from Michigan to New Jersey and took the Turnpike most of the time. This stretch is just west of Breezewood and I remember us zipping along the highway and then getting caught up in traffic when the road narrowed down from 4 lanes to 2 to go through those tunnels.

In recent years I've driven sections of the turnpike thinking back to those trips many years ago and haven't found much that looked familiar, now I know it's because the most memorable sections aren't part of the turnpike anymore.

Next fall when I take the annual trip to PA I'm going to have to check some of the old road out.

Jeff DeWitt

snipped-for-privacy@cox.net wrote:

Actually, the maps show it to be east of Breezewood.

I know the PA TP is old and I should be kind to elders, but overall it is a horrible road- low speed curves, lots of trucks in both of the narrow lanes, rough pavement, always accidents, etc. The most aggravating thing is the number of work zones with 40 mph speed limits. In my trip to South Bend several weeks ago I'll bet there were 50 work zones between Breezewood and the Ohio line. Probably only 25% of the work zones had anything going on, but they still had the signs to slow and turn on your headlights in work zones, proclaiming that state law.required it. Both requirements were widely ignored too. Paul Johnson

Your right, it's east of Breezewood.

I haven't driven on the western part of it, just in the east, where it's pretty much just another Interstate (with tolls)

The former explains the latter.

Jeff DeWitt

Paul Johns>>Absolutely it is.

Paul, considering where you live, why don't you take I-68 to Morgantown and then cut up I-79 to I-70? It's a little longer but a MUCH nicer drive. There's a bit of 2-lane driving between Columbus and Fort Wayne but it's not that bad.

nate

They should return some of the toll money when the speed limit is lowered. That is the prime reason that I avoid toll roads in general...

JT

I think that it was when I was going to the '68 IM in E McKeesport that I zoomed far ahead of the othjer New Englanders. Then a saw an older couple standing by the wreck of their overturned trailer and car in the way-off-camber section between the fast lane and the center guard rail. I was reminded of how old the road was and how improved the newer ones were. Held it to under 65 after that as long as there was traffic about.

Karl

That's certainly my preferred route and I usually take those roads. But it just seemed like it was too much of a dog leg to take 79 when going to South Bend. However, you are right about it being a much nicer drive. Interestingly, MapQuest did route me by I-68/I-79 to I-70 when I went to Myer's Studebaker recently. Even then we hit a half-hour backup at the intersection of I-79 and I-70 due to I-70 being narrowed to one lane westbound just west of the intersection. Paul Johnson

As a Pennsylvania resident, who has been all over the world, I need to share this with you.

The Turnpike sucks. It's the worst piece of shit masquerading as a road ever imagined by a human.

Narrow, rotten surface, blind turns, awful on-ramps (the only worse ones are in OKC in I-35) and you have to pay for the enjoyment.

I 80 ain't much better - just wider and free.

Winter, big trucks, and a lousy system for maintaining the roads = a mess.

Mark (just a little bitter) Dunning

You want bad on-ramps, come to CT and drive on the Merritt Pkwy! There is no acceleration lane, and they are very short. At least there are no trucks allowed, unless of course you have a combination plate on your vehicle, then almost anything goes!

Chip

Here's a picture I got from Dick Quinn. It shows a 1941 Studebaker at the Pa. Turnpike toll booth about the time the turnpike opened.

You would be better off taking toll free I-80 or I-78 from Michigan, unless you are going to southern NJ. ;)

mike hunt

Most of the PTP is 40 year older than I-80 I'll bet your are not what you were forty years ago as well. ;)

mike hunt

I drive the legal speed limit.Conserves gas and gives me more time to watch and avoid the morons out there who think speed limits are for the "other" people. I also dont stop for idiots who have gone into a ditch after passing me at high speeds in snow or rain.

Bob40

Really? In Pennsylvania you can be sited for failure to offer assistance at an accident LOL

mike hunt

My brother was a politico and lucky enough to be able to buy a new car. Some talk about the 'big' federal deficit today. They should have been around during WWII, when it the deficit was over 100% of GNP. FDRs answer back then was 'When ones house is on fire a man does not worry about the water bill.' Shortly after I got out of the Navy I bought a '46 Plymouth that cost me around $1,700. Except for the trim, it was the same car as my dads '41 that cost him around $700. Talk about the effect of a war on prices LOL

mike hunt

There was one huge program that eased it, and it was War Bonds. And the American public as a whole were more than willing to pay into it. Luckily, the economy in the postwar years was experiencing phenominal growth, and got the deficit back down to managable levels. This in in contrast to Britain where they had a deficit so deep, they had to do without cars and other items that weren't necessary for a few years after the war. The government of the day ordered nearly all the goods produced to be exported to pay down that debt. For a while, there were more Austins sold outside England than within, and one had to prove they really needed a car to get one.

Craig.

War Bonds, like all bonds, were a dept that the government had to pay back with interest. They were a bad investment, since the money one received upon maturity was worth less than half as much after the war. ;)

mike hunt