After a six-year hiatus, the second SEPA Road Enthusiast Meet was held today. I’d like to thank all who attended and for making the trip for the 2010 SEPA Meet, which took the record for attendance at a Pennsylvania meet from the 2003 SWPA Meet.
View of US 422, also known as the Pottstown Expressway, from my hotel room window that morning.
The 2010 SEPA Meet began as usual at 12 PM at the Sly Fox Brewhouse & Eatery, home of the Route 113 Indian Pale Ale, on what else, PA 113 in Phoenixville. Some of the attendees did partake of the Route 113 IPA, or as PennDOT would call it, the SR 0113 Indian Pale Ale. It just might end up being the official beverage for road enthusiasts over the age of 21. The food was good as well as the conversations.
Many of the attendees brought road-related materials to peruse as well as to keep: Adam Froehlig – various state official maps from Virginia, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania; Doug Kerr – I-87 Northway maps; and H. B. Elkins – goodie bags full of Kentucky maps and other Kentucky Transportation Cabinet paraphernalia. I brought a planning map for the Keystone State’s Interstate System from the early 1960s for guests to view. In 2006, I had acquired that from eBay.
After lunch, we hopped in our cars and followed PA 23 to the first stop, which was at the Philadelphia Traffic Management Center in the PennDOT District 6-0 headquarters in King of Prussia. Thanks go to Len Pundt, who worked for PennDOT and who helped arrange the tour. The TMC, which was called the Traffic Control Center when I toured it in 2004, has been upgraded since then. Two video walls show feeds from traffic cameras around Philadelphia, as well as content from the Internet and TV. There was a bit of excitement as we were witness to an accident on the Platt Bridge, tying up traffic. Accidents seems to have become a constant with Pennsylvania meets involving a traffic management center tour.
Continuing east on PA 23, we stopped at the Schuylkill Parkway overpass just north of Bridgeport. Len described what was to have happened with that project. It would have been the eastern end of the “Goat Path” Expressway, which was to begin in Lancaster. Len provided some background on this abandoned project. One of its current uses is as a driver training course for the State Police. He explained PennDOT’s funding issues, which led to it cancelling this and numerous other expressway projects in the 1970s. One of the points he made was that cancelling these projects did initially save money. However, there is no way to build these to solve the traffic issues of the 21st Century. Right-of-way acquisition alone would be astronomically high to carve these highways through dense urbanized areas.
We bid Len adieu and took I-276/PA Turnpike eastbound to PA 309 northbound to observe some of the rehabilitation project. Work has been taking place since 2003 along the Fort Washington Expressway. As soon as joining the expressway, we experienced a vastly improved roadway from the one that had been serving commuters since it was built as a new alignment for US 309. We encountered the last remaining section to be undergoing rehabilitation heading north and exited in the construction zone at Norristown Road to go west to Bethlehem Pike. That roadway was the pre-expressway route of US 309. Traveling north to Cedar Hill Road allowed us to view the progress on the northernmost segment from an overpass.
After stopping at the overpass to see the work, we continued northeast to PA 63 then turned northwest to go to the intersection with US 202 to see the progress on the US 202 Parkway project. A new alignment is underway at PA 63 and work is taking place south along the current alignment.
We passed some of the work along US 202 as we headed back to the Sly Fox Brewhouse & Eatery to conclude the 2010 SEPA Meet. Back at the restaurant, we said our farewells and headed to our respective destinations.
The Federal Highway Administration vetoed the Commonwealth’s plan to put tolls on Interstate 80 to help fill the potholes in PennDOT’s budget. Since then, ideas on how to accomplish that feat in a different manner have been flying fast and furious. Any plan will mean drivers will pay more. The task of finding $472 million was taken up by three state representatives: Bill Kortz of Allegheny County, Michael O’Brien of Philadelphia, and Scott Conklin of Centre County. Their idea? Tolls! What a welcome to Pennsylvania for drivers.
Their idea is officially called Special Session House Bill 2 or “Gateway Tolling for Transportation Independence Today.” It would have toll plazas constructed at the state lines on Interstates 78, 79, 80, 81, 84, 90, and 95. Traffic entering and exiting would be charged anywhere between $1 for passenger vehicles to $5 for trucks. Residents near the borders could buy a book of tickets at a reduced price to give them a cheaper toll. However, trucking companies based within Pennsylvania would be entirely exempt from paying. The toll booths would be manned by PennDOT, not PTC, employees. They would offer coin-drop baskets as well as E-ZPass gantries equipped with video cameras to capture violator’s license plates who would receive a bill in the mail.
These tolls would basically be a “user fee” paid by those who drive said Interstates, for maintenance of said Interstate. Tolling currently free Interstates whose construction was funded 90% by the federal government is allowed to provide for maintenance, and only maintenance. The plan to toll Interstate 80 would have siphoned money off for other transportation-related projects, which is not allowed. Representative Coklin estimates that between $235 million and $300 million a year could be raised for the Department of Transportation.
The proposal faces two roadblocks: passage by the special session of the Legislature and a stamp of approval from the Federal Highway Administration. Since the proposal would need their approval, the process for implementation could take several years. Therefore, the idea might not provide immediate results.
Interstate 80 turns the big 4-0 this year! For most of those 40 years, politicians have been trying to undo what was done. President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the Federal Highway Act of 1956. It kicked off the building of the Interstates as a system of free, limited-access highways crisscrossing the United States. This happened at a time when building toll roads were all the rage. Pennsylvania was the first to build a long-distance toll road and other states followed our lead.
Once the mainline Turnpike was finished and the Northeast Extension nearing completion, the Turnpike Commission looked to building other extensions. However, Ike stole the PTC’s thunder by putting pen to paper. All of those proposed extensions became the blueprint for the Department of Highways to lay out the Commonwealth’s Interstate System. Without Eisenhower witnessing the German Autobahns first-hand as Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in World War II, what we now now know as Interstate 80 would have been constructed as the Turnpike Commission’s “Keystone Shortway.” So the idea of a toll road slicing right through the middle of Penn’s Woods is not a new idea. It’s just made to seem that way.
The exact day of Interstate 80’s completion is marked as September 21, 1970. Once completed, it was obvious that the road offered a shorter route between New York City and Chicago versus going north via the New York State Thruway or south via the Turnpike. Of course it wouldn’t be fair for Pennsylvanians to pay the entire cost of maintenance on the Interstate when most of the users were from out of state and just passing through. The first idea to change the Keystone Shortway into the “Keystone Tollway” came during the Milton Shapp administration in the early 1970s. Nothing happened.
The plan was resurrected in the 1980s when the Turnpike Expansion bill known as Act 61 was signed. Again nothing happened. In the late 1990s, Representative Bud Shuster (yes, Mr. Interstate 99) resurrected the idea because he felt road repairs were due. The proposal was originally rejected by Governor Tom Ridge but in April 1999 he went back; however, again nothing happened as Ridge was tapped to be the first Secretary of Homeland Security.
The idea resurfaced in 2004. Department of Transportation Secretary Allen Biehler told the state House Appropriations Committee then that a series of toll plazas could be built approximately every 30 miles across the state. He added that the feasibility study had been going on for several months and would take another two to complete. PennDOT would just need permission from the Federal Highway Administration to charge tolls. The reason is because federal money was used to build the Interstate.
There is also the question of whether the PTC or PennDOT would be in charge of operations and maintenance. Tolls are one option for raising needed funds to pay for maintenance and possibly widening it to six lanes in sections. One section in particular is from Interstate 81 to the Delaware River. A year later on March 8, 2005, Secretary Biehler told the Senate Appropriations Committee that costs of building toll booths, maintenance facilities, and police stations would exceed $650 million and take years to complete.
A PennDOT study stated it would be feasible to charge tolls over the long run. However, it would take decades to break even and pay off the debt. Biehler said that “it wasn’t a wise move to institute tolls at this time.” State Senator J. Barry Stout of Washington County said he was “a little shocked to see the final conclusion.” As the minority chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee, he endorsed the idea of putting ten toll booths, with a $2.50 fare at each, on the Interstate from Ohio to New Jersey. Again, nothing would happen.
The idea seemed to really start gaining traction in 2007 when Act 44 was passed. Under the terms, the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission would take over operation of the road and construct ten toll plazas at 30 mile intervals from Ohio to New Jersey. The estimated $946 million/year collected from them, as well as increased fare rates on the mainline Turnpike, would go to fund highway and bridge repairs across the state. Officials continued to push ahead by announcing that the PTC would spend more than $1 billion on improvements to the Interstate over the next few years. They would include repairing bridges, adding truck climbing lanes, upgrading pavement, and extending on-ramps.
On October 16, 2007, the Department of Transportation and Turnpike Commission entered into a 50-year lease agreement for Interstate 80. As part of Act 44, the two agencies filed a formal application with the Federal Highway Administration on October 13 seeking approval to implement tolls.
However, in a letter dated October 17 to Transportation Secretary Allen Biehler and PTC CEO Joseph Brimmeier, chief counsel and acting deputy administrator of the Federal Highway Administration, James D. Ray stated,
As should be clear, FHWA has not granted Pennsylvania the authority to toll I-80. In fact, now that we have received a formal application, we will conduct a thorough analysis of the application’s merits based on the statutory criteria and determine if the selection of Interstate 80 in Pennsylvania for one of three nationwide tolling pilot authorities is appropriate. The approval of any application under this program is a discretionary decision. We will take into account a variety of factors, including, but not limited to, actual or expected competition from other interstate facilities.
On the night of Thursday, November 9, Congress eliminated the amendment to a transportation appropriations bill that would have forbidden putting tolls on free Interstates. That was done at the request of Governor Rendell, Democrats, and Senator Arlen Specter. The two Representatives from along the corridor who added the rider cried foul.
On July 14, 2008, the Turnpike Commission announced its planned $2.5 billion upgrades to the Interstate in the first decade of ownership. The upgrades include building two new interchanges to connect the Interstate with Interstate 99, replacing or resurfacing about 80 percent of the 311 miles, and replacing 60 original bridges.
On August 6, the PTC announced their toll collecting would be much different than that on their other expressways. Instead of traditional toll plazas, Interstate 80 would be the first all electronic toll road in Pennsylvania. It would have E-ZPass readers at nine gantries across the state each costing $60 million to build. Those without a transponder would be sent a picture of their license plate and a bill for their toll plus a $1 processing fee. In both cases much like the 407 ETR outside of Toronto, Ontario.
Those with transponders would also get a free pass at the first gantry, roughly equating to a 60-mile free ride on the road. After that, they would be charged $2.70 at the second and each gantry after wards. This offer would not be extended to most commercial vehicles, including 18-wheelers that account for up to 30% of traffic. However, regular users would be eligible for volume discounts.
Feeling confident and having all their cars in a row, the state resubmitted the plan on July 22, 2008. They expected the decision would take two or three months to decided on phase one approval for tolling Interstate 80. Two months later, the decision handed down was against tolling 80, so yet again nothing would happen.
The story might have ended there. It didn’t as the Commonwealth submitted the exact plan a second time in late October 2009. It came as no surprise to this blogger that on April 6, 2010, yet again the application was rejected. However, this time it seems the Federal Highway Administration finally drove a stake through the plan’s heart. Governor Rendell announced that day that it will not be resubmitted. Therefore, it can finally be said that after 40 years, nothing will happen.
It is that time of the year, commonly referred to as the holiday let down. That period in the calendar when we go from ushering in a new year to hiding eggs. People start looking forward to the Summer and vacation time it will bring. It is also that time of the year when the trucking industry magazine, Overdrive, releases the results of their latest “Worst Roads” survey. Sadly to say, we’re number one again.
For most of the 1990s, Pennsylvania held the dubious distinction of “Worst Roads” in the United States. The state’s fortunes began to change in the late 1990s, when Pennsylvania slid down to second place.
For the past decade, the number one slot has bounced between newcomers such as Arkansas and Louisiana. Pennsylvania has taken top, or bottom, billing 13 out of 19 years Overdrive has been conducting the survey. It takes the title back in 2009. I find this distinction particularly amusing this year. The reason being the replacement or rehabilitation of all the structurally deficient bridges thanks to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. In fact, a Congressional committee named Pennsylvania as the top-ranked large state, third overall, for starting and completing projects funded by the ARRA.
States are not just judged by the conditions of their highway systems, but other things related to trucking. Interstate 80 still retains the title of “Most Improved Road” from last year. However, in 2008 it was second under “Best Highway Segment” and forth under “Worst Highway Segment.”
Interstate 80 through Stroudsburg
Pennsylvania still retains third place for “Toughest on Truck Inspections and Law Enforcement.” A distinction it shares with Maryland this year. The strangest change is our truck stops. They went from third best to a tie with California and New York for third worst. Now that’s some swing!
You’re probably wondering how something like that, or the aforementioned Interstate 80 ranking, can happen. I learned from an editor with Overdrive the process of tallying the votes. Instead of averaging the good and bad scores, the good and bad are separated, then averaged. That explains how Pennsylvania was second under “Worst Roads” and five under “Best Roads” one year.
Unfortunately, no shout out this year for me or the website. It is just as well since Pennsylvania highways (the ones made of concrete and asphalt) are back on top, or bottom.
White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said in May that the next G-20 Summit would be held in Pittsburgh. As a result, there were more than a few laughs from the White House Press Corp. And why not, what does anyone there know about finance and banking or surviving an economic downturn? After all, it is an area where people pay a fair market value for a house. How quaint! However, the world came to discuss all of the above.
The reason President Obama chose the “City of Champions” was due to visiting the area during the 2008 campaign. He saw how it changed from a center of steel to one with a more varied economic base. One focused on medicine, finance, and high-tech industries. Fortunately, the industrial fore-fathers of the city were not misers and gave back to their community in the form of libraries and universities. These were the crutches by which Pittsburgh could pull itself up by its bootstraps and start over.
Leaders from around the world began arriving on Wednesday. This prompted rolling roadblocks on the Parkway West between Pittsburgh International Airport and Downtown. The motorcades passed through the US 22/US 30-PA 60 interchange project. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 partially funded the work. Passage of the ARRA was to dig (no pun intended) the country out of the global recession. The topic of which would be the focus of the next two days.
While the leaders of the 20 largest economies and the European Union were arriving, so were the protesters. Members of Greenpeace repelled off the West End Bridge. They displayed a banner protesting the lack of attention paid to the environment by these leaders. Arrests took place at the Fort Pitt Bridge, where five others tried to do the same.
Mayor Luke Ravenstahl deputized 1,000 men and women. They came from police departments as far away as Miami and as close as Johnstown. In addition to National Guardsmen and state police troopers, they made up a force of more than 3,000 officers.
The world’s leaders had an easier time getting around the city than the locals. Only residents with a driver’s license with a Downtown address, delivery trucks (with deliveries made between 5 AM and 7 AM), taxis, hotel shuttles, armored cars, ACCESS vehicles, and medical suppliers could continue into the Golden Triangle. Three police checkpoints were established. The locations were Smithfield Street Bridge at PA 837/West Carson Street, Fifth Avenue at Ross Street, and the Roberto Clemente Bridge at Isabella Street. However, motorists could exit anywhere. Meanwhile, barricades closed ramps from Interstate 279, Interstate 376, and Interstate 579 and other bridges and streets.
The two-day summit went off without a hitch. Pittsburgh was able to do something no other city could: host a blood-less G-20. Only 193 arrests took place, a few minor fires happened, and some minor damage to stores occurred. The nearly 6,000 law enforcement personnel outnumbered the 5,000 protesters who had come to the city. Needless to say, crime dropped steeply. On the other hand, so did the need for EMTs. For instance, at times every ambulance in the city sat idle! Thousands of police vehicles, driven by mostly out-of-towners, managed to navigate the maze of city streets without a single accident. That was perhaps the most surprising thing to come out of the two days.
VisitPittsburgh hopes that the G-20 Summit helps tourism and attracting conventions. It did raise interest on the global stage. As a result of the summit, the city was awarded another international event. Pittsburgh will be the North American host city for the 2010 United Nations World Environment Day. Meanwhile, perhaps the highest praise came from the Italian-born songwriter, singer, former model, and the current French First Lady. Carla Bruni-Sarkozy said, “I think I wish I could stay a little longer because we only stay one-and-a-half days.”
She added, “But I think it’s beautiful.” I don’t think VisitPittsburgh could have asked for a better spokeswoman in the world.
This past weekend, I stopped at the welcome center on Interstate 70 at the Maryland state line in Warfordsburg. In doing so, I picked up a copy of the 2009 official road map. Here are the changes since the 2007 editions:
Berks County/Chester County PA 82 removed between Elverson and Birdsboro
Blair County/Centre County/State College Inset Interstate 99 completed from Bald Eagle to State College in addition to being signed from there to Interstate 80
Fayette County PA Turnpike 43 completed between Exit 15 and Exit 22 and shown under construction between Exit 22 and PA 88
Lehigh County/Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton Inset US 222/Trexlertown Bypass completed from PA 100 to Interstate 78
Tioga County US 15 finished from PA 287 to New York and PA 287 extended further along old US 15 to Lawrenceville
New Castle Inset US 224 extended further than US 422/PA 60 eastward on State Street and Falls Street
In conclusion, those are all the changes to the 2009 official road map. It has the same dimensions as the previous year’s; however, this year’s cover is of an Amish buggy driving on one of the newly designated Civil War Trails. You can view the map at PennDOT’s GIS page.
If the Departments of Transportation and Tourism would have waited, they could have given a shout-out to our three professional sports teams that won championships in the past year. The North Carolina Department of Transportation did that for the Carolina Hurricanes on the cover of their 2007 map.
There is a lot of talk these days about the newest revolution on the Internet: Social Networking. It started with this blog, which I use to write not just about the roads across the Commonwealth, but musings about Pennsylvania. However, other means of social networking have come along since blogs were all the rage. I began to think how these new tools could benefit Pennsylvania Highways. So today, on the ninth anniversary of when I purchased the pahighways.com domain, I created a couple new avenues of communication, so you can social network with us by tweeting, liking, or watching Pennsylvania Highways.
Twitter The new cultural buzzword. Everyone seems to be twittering, from Oprah to Senator John McCain. I’ve seen other Twitter pages such as CNN’s and the Washington State Department of Transportation’s and thought how it could work for my site. PennDOT and the PTC do have a system where people can receive text messages; however, it doesn’t have the immediacy of a Twitter post. So using the WSDOT “template,” I created an account that will not only be used for updates to the site, but news items pertaining to the highway system.
Facebook Another phenomenon that seems to have come out of nowhere and taken the Internet by storm is Facebook. It seems that everyone from 9 to 90 has a Facebook page, even people’s pets! So I figured why not create a Pennsylvania Highways presence on this platform as well. Posts will include news articles, website updates, announcements of upcoming road enthusiast meets, and other events.
YouTube No doubt you have spent time on this site. Probably watching a clip of a skateboarding bulldog while trying not to get caught by the boss. YouTube is nothing new to the road enthusiast community, as others have been recording their journeys and uploading them to this popular website. So now Pennsylvania Highways has entered the fray. However, trying to find its niche will take a little longer than it took to set the page up.
One issue is that PennDOT has saved me the work by going ahead and videotaping all state routes. Another issue is that I need a newer video camera than my family’s circa 1991 Panasonic camcorder that is as big as a half loaf of bread, or just buy the A/V dongle from Hauppauge, so I can record the video from it onto my computer’s hard drive. Basically, this idea is still on the burner.
Today was the second meet in Happy Valley but unlike the first edition, Mother Nature gave us a rain-free day. I’d like to thank all who attended and for making the trip for the 2009 State College Meet.
The meet began at 12 PM at Hoss’s Steak & Sea on Business US 322 (North Atherton Street). Food was good as well as the conversations. Many of the attendees brought road-related materials to peruse as well as to keep: Steve Alpert – Florida Turnpike maps; H.B. Elkins – new Kentucky and West Virginia maps; and Doug Kerr – Interstate 87 Northway maps. I brought some recent official state maps from Kentucky, Maryland, Tennessee, and of course, Pennsylvania.
Left to right: Oscar Voss, Doug Lowmaster, Mike Barron, John Krakoff, Jeff Kitsko, Doug Kerr, Brian Rawson-Ketchum, Denny Pine, Brian Powell, Scott Onson, and Adam Froehlig
After lunch, we hopped in our cars and drove down via former US 220/US 322 to PA 550. On this road is the location of the first stop on the 2005 Meet tour. It provides a good view of the completed Interstate 99. Where the two roads cross is where some of the acid rock problems had occurred. The large retaining pond, constructed on the south side of the Interstate to catch acidic run-off, contained a good amount of water.
Continuing down former US 220/US 322, now known as SR 3042, we stopped at the top of Skytop Mountain. This provides a good vantage point which overlooks the Interstate everyone loves to hate. Construction crews discovered pyritic rock in this area, which eventually stalled work on Interstate 99 until a solution was devised. The plan included removing the disturbed rock and keeping the remainder at the location. It is easy to see where the undisturbed acid rock is located. Mesh and rocks cover it to prevent erosion.
We continued on SR 3042 to SR 3040 to Port Matilda, passing through the trumpet interchange where “END” and “BEGIN” signage still exist for Alternate US 220. I would expect it to be decommissioned before the next official state map. The reason being there is no mention of the route on new signage on Interstate 80 or before the trumpet.
In the now traffic-thinned Port Matilda, we took Interstate 99 north back to State College. The view from the alignment as it climbs Skytop is fantastic and will be spectacular in Fall. We got to see in greater clarity the acid rock remediation as we headed back to the restaurant.
A few of the attendees had to leave at this point. The remainder of the group continued into State College on Business US 322. From there, we then headed north on PA 26 to the southern stub of the Bellefonte Bypass. It is now a ramp onto Interstate 99/US 220; however, there were plans to continue it south to the end of the US 322 expressway north of Lewistown.
Following northbound Interstate 99/US 220/PA 26, we turned off onto the former route of 26 right before the current interchange with Interstate 80. There is earth moving taking place for the relocation of Jacksonville Road, which is part of the plan for the future Interstate 80/Interstate 99 directional “Y.”
After which we head back to Hoss’s where we said our farewells, and headed to our respective destinations after the 2009 State College Meet.
Congratulations Brownsville, you’re the proud parents of the newest auxiliary route in Pennsylvania! It is a bouncing baby business route for US 40.
With the new section of US 40 east of the borough finished, PennDOT decided to sign the former route as business route. The new designation keeps the US 40 markers on the former route from Redstone Way to PA 166. In addition, they return to the former route into Brownsville for the first time since 1970!
The numerous changes in this area are all due to the Mon-Fayette Expressway. Completing US 40 from the end of the expressway at Grindstone Road, where traffic has had to zig-zag since the Nixon administration, has always been a part of the expressway plan.
The section of US 40 expressway that exists was built in anticipation of it becoming part of the proposed route. The Turnpike Commission was considering including that piece even as it was planning the route through Fayette County. However, the PTC decided to route Turnpike 43 around Brownsville on an entirely new path.
Path of the newest US Business Route in Pennsylvania. (PennDOT)
Make sure to send all gifts and cards to PennDOT District 12-0 to congratulate them on their new bouncing baby business route.
It seems the route change many were expecting around the New Year did not pan out. I am speaking of course about the extension of Interstate 376. However, it did not mean that the official state road map lacked any changes after the opening of Interstate 99 in Centre County. Two decades of futility came to an end involving PA 82 in Berks County.
In December, PennDOT decided to truncate PA 82 at PA 23 in Elverson. The remainder of the route in Chester County became SR 4082. In Berks County, the route became SR 2082 north to Birdsboro. An extension of the PA 345 designation replaced PA 82 from Birdsboro to its former northern terminus at US 422.
The northern end of the closed section of PA 82 in Birdsboro
A tropical depression inundated eastern Pennsylvania on the night of September 8, 1987. Consequently, the flooding it caused destroyed several bridges that carried PA 82 across Hay Creek south of Birdsboro. The Department of Transportation wanted to rebuild them, but local opposition was strong from the residents who lived nearby. The local residents became accustom to the lack of traffic and wanted to keep it that way. As a result, PA 345 became the de facto detour for north-south traffic between southern Berks County and Birdsboro.
The section devastated by flooding and subsequently closed to traffic. (United States Geologic Survey)
Now, with all the changes, it may be said that two decades of futility finally reached an end.
The gap in the PA 82 alignment south of Birdsboro. (PennDOT)
