During the 1930s the Pennsylvania Turnpike was designed to improve automobile transportation across the mountains of Pennsylvania, using seven tunnels built for the abandoned railroad in the 1880s. The road opened on October 1, 1940 between Irwin and Carlisle as the first long-distance limited-access highway in the United States. Today the highway runs east–west through the entire state of Pennsylvania for 360 miles, connecting the Pittsburgh, Harrisburg, and Philadelphia areas. It crosses the Appalachian Mountains in central Pennsylvania through four tunnels. The mainline turnpike was completed in 1956. During the 1960s an additional tube was bored at four of the two-lane tunnels, while the other three tunnels were bypassed and abandoned. These improvements made the entire length of the highway four lanes wide.
The road uses a ticket system of tolling between the toll plazas. A form of electronic toll collection, has made passing through the toll plazas quite easy.
HOW MANY OF THE ORIGINAL SEVEN TUNNELS STILL REMAIN IN USE ON THE PA TURNPIKE ??
FOUR = N 40 48.639 W 078 53.701
SEVEN = N 40 47.931 W 078 53.600
CONGRATULATIONS TO beans&franks FOR THE FTF