Back to forecast
On This Day: The Pennsylvania Turnpike Opens in 1940
September 30, 2020 at 03:09 PM EDT
By WeatherBug's Chris Sayles
One of the longest and most utilized roads opened today in Pennsylvania 80 years ago. The tolled highway known as the Pennsylvania Turnpike extends east to west, connecting Pittsburgh with Philadelphia.
Opening on October 1, 1940, the Pennsylvania Turnpike is the length of about 360 miles and ends at the New Jersey Turnpike just southwest of Trenton, N.J., and travels westward connecting to the Ohio Turnpike southwest of New Castle, Penn. The idea behind the construction of this fabled road was to provide easy transportation across Pennsylvania’s mountainous terrain. Not only that, but the road served as one of the first roads to use tolls.
Its construction was planned in the 1930s and it was set to utilize as its foundation a railroad project abandoned in the 1880s. At that time, the Pennsylvania Turnpike would be the longest tolled road in the U.S. Following its construction and successful opening, many other toll roads would follow. Spurred by the development of affordable cars, highways such as the Pennsylvania Turnpike became a hot commodity and a necessity.
Before the turnpike was built, crossing the Appalachian Mountains bisecting the state required driving dangerous hilly and steep roads with sharp turns that would become icy and snow-covered in winter. The turnpike relieved these roads and decreased the time needed to drive across the state.
As such, proposals for over $50 million, which equals over $500 million in 2019, were presented to the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (PTC) to build this ground-breaking road. The money to build the highway was by a $24 million federal grant (valued at nearly $350 million in 2019) authorized by President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s and a $32 million loan (valued at $470 million in 2019) from the Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RTC).
To this day, the Pennsylvania Turnpike continues to be used by hundreds of thousands of travelers yearly. Its upkeep is handled by the PTC which have extensive plans to reconstruct several large parts of highway to replace bridges and add travel lanes on the busiest section of the highway.
Story Image: The Blue Mountain Tunnel on the Pennsylvania Turnpike viewed from the Kittatinny Mountain Tunnel. Taken by an employee of the Office of War Information in July 1942. (Library of Congress/Wikimedia Commons)
Opening on October 1, 1940, the Pennsylvania Turnpike is the length of about 360 miles and ends at the New Jersey Turnpike just southwest of Trenton, N.J., and travels westward connecting to the Ohio Turnpike southwest of New Castle, Penn. The idea behind the construction of this fabled road was to provide easy transportation across Pennsylvania’s mountainous terrain. Not only that, but the road served as one of the first roads to use tolls.
Its construction was planned in the 1930s and it was set to utilize as its foundation a railroad project abandoned in the 1880s. At that time, the Pennsylvania Turnpike would be the longest tolled road in the U.S. Following its construction and successful opening, many other toll roads would follow. Spurred by the development of affordable cars, highways such as the Pennsylvania Turnpike became a hot commodity and a necessity.
Before the turnpike was built, crossing the Appalachian Mountains bisecting the state required driving dangerous hilly and steep roads with sharp turns that would become icy and snow-covered in winter. The turnpike relieved these roads and decreased the time needed to drive across the state.
As such, proposals for over $50 million, which equals over $500 million in 2019, were presented to the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (PTC) to build this ground-breaking road. The money to build the highway was by a $24 million federal grant (valued at nearly $350 million in 2019) authorized by President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s and a $32 million loan (valued at $470 million in 2019) from the Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RTC).
To this day, the Pennsylvania Turnpike continues to be used by hundreds of thousands of travelers yearly. Its upkeep is handled by the PTC which have extensive plans to reconstruct several large parts of highway to replace bridges and add travel lanes on the busiest section of the highway.
Story Image: The Blue Mountain Tunnel on the Pennsylvania Turnpike viewed from the Kittatinny Mountain Tunnel. Taken by an employee of the Office of War Information in July 1942. (Library of Congress/Wikimedia Commons)