The PA Turnpike
History
In 1791, the legislature of the Pennsylvanian Commonwealth
approved a state-wide transportation plan and a year later created
the Philadelphia and Lancaster Turnpike Company.The Lancaster
Turnpike route was later replaced by a canal after 1800 and then
the beginnings of a railroad in the 1880s. The Allegheny Mountains
posed a barrier to William Vanderbilt and Andrew Carnegie, who at
the time were building a railroad from Harrisburg west to
Pittsburgh to compete with a more northerly route provided by the
booming Pennsylvania Railroad. Over one-half of the roadbed was
constructed and seven tunnels partially excavated before Vanderbilt
went broke in 1885.
As early as 1910, ideas arose to convert the abandoned railway
route into a motorway. The idea of a turnpike to cross the
Alleghenies was supported by the trucking industry as well as the
motoring public. A feasibility study began in 1934 with surveyors
collecting information and engineers selecting routes and preparing
plans.
In 1937, the governor signed a bill to create the Pennsylvania
Turnpike Commission during a period when the nation was still
recovering from that era's depression.
After plans were completed in October, 1938, 155 construction
companies and 15,000 workers from 18 states were under contract
with the Turnpike Commission. Six of the seven original railway
tunnels ranging from 3,500 to 6,800 feet had to be completed or
widened to allow two lanes of vehicles.
The Pennsylvania Turnpike officially entered service October 1,
1940, exhibiting new concepts of superhighway design and
demonstrating that revenue bonds could finance toll roads. Planners
predicted that 1.3 million vehicles would use the turnpike each
year, but early actual usage was 2.4 million vehicles, sometimes as
many as 10,000 vehicles per day were recorded.
As the Pennsylvania Turnpike operates in its sixth decade of
service, the original 160-mile route has been expanded to 514
miles, carrying 156.2 million vehicles a year at a toll of just
over 4.1 cents a mile. In the engineering design of this highway,
utmost attention has been given to the drivers' safety and comfort.
Today the Pennsylvania Turnpike, part of Interstate 76, can be
recognized as the first of a new breed of American tollways in the
interstate highway system.
This cache is located at a hotel chain that overlooks a PA
Turnpike exit. Please park in the back and enjoy the scenery as you
walk to the cache.
Don't forget to write down the code character found in the log
for this cache!
Visit our website lostcachers.com or our profile L.O.S.T. for more info on our group.