The widening of the Pennsylvania Turnpike between Cranberry and New Stanton (Pittsburgh: appointed, fit in)

[idontwannamove216]

Are there any other sections of highway in the Pittsburgh area that has the sound barrier walls?

[Craziaskowboi]

Originally Posted by idontwannamove216

Are there any other sections of highway in the Pittsburgh area that has the sound barrier walls?

As the Turnpike gets widened, they're installing sound walls wherever it passes by housing developments.

[idontwannamove216]

Originally Posted by Gnutella

As the Turnpike gets widened, they're installing sound walls wherever it passes by housing developments.

I was just trying to think of any other sections of highway in the Pittsburgh area that would have these. I know there are spots of the Parkway that runs close to neighborhoods (thinking of near the Green Tree exit on the Parkway West). I think there are spots on I-79 around Carnegie and Canonsburg that pass close to homes, as well. I just wondered if they were going to become common in sections of those, as well.

[Craziaskowboi]

Originally Posted by idontwannamove216

I was just trying to think of any other sections of highway in the Pittsburgh area that would have these. I know there are spots of the Parkway that runs close to neighborhoods (thinking of near the Green Tree exit on the Parkway West). I think there are spots on I-79 around Carnegie and Canonsburg that pass close to homes, as well. I just wondered if they were going to become common in sections of those, as well.

They won't be common on the Parkway West until it's widened.

[jayjaysin]

The sound walls are offered as a consolation to the townships/residents only when the houses were there prior to a road being widened and thereby possibly increasing traffic noise. So, when the Turnpike is widenend through the higher populated areas, sound walls will be more common. If/when the Parkways are widened, they will most likely have sound walls as well.

[Craziaskowboi]

MM 70.4...

Before




After




MM 74.3...

Before




After




Construction on the segment of the Turnpike from the Irwin interchange to the New Stanton interchange (MM 67 to MM 75) is now completed. Notice the third travel lane added in each direction, as well as the 12-foot-wide interior shoulders, and the reconstructed and expanded overpasses. Ladies and gentlemen, these are 21st-Century highways in Pennsylvania. (Some will still refuse to acknowledge their existence.) For the next 50 years, all these reconstructed highways will need is the periodic milling and resurfacing of the top layer of asphalt.

Elsewhere on the Turnpike, reconstruction continues from the Warrendale Toll Plaza to the Butler Valley interchange (MM 31 to MM 38), and will soon commence from the Butler Valley interchange to the Allegheny Valley interchange (MM 40 to MM 48). I hope that they widen the interior shoulders near the Butler Valley interchange (MM 38 to MM 40) in the process when they do this.

Those two projects north of Pittsburgh will leave only one 19-mile segment east of Pittsburgh in line to be reconstructed. The segment from the Allegheny River Bridges to the Irwin interchange (MM 49 to MM 67) is still four lanes with four-foot wide interior shoulders. It passes through some densely-populated areas, has several long bridge spans, and also requires a reconfiguration of the Pittsburgh interchange (Exit 57), so the expense to reconstruct this segment is probably higher than normal, which would make this a long-term project.

[MathmanMathman]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

Not necessarily. In urban environments, generally a lot of parallel paths work better than a single highway, because the highway will collect too much traffic and tend to get congested. That in a nutshell is why some cities have actually removed some of their urban highways, and why many other planned urban highways never got built--the ones that did get built failed to live up to their promises, and meanwhile destroyed a lot of land value (both directly and indirectly).

Highways are really designed, and work best, for travel between cities, not within them. Hence I have no inherent problem with improving the Turnpike, because that is a proper use of a highway.

Are there any objections to beltways around cities? I've always thought Pittsburgh could have used an "Allegheny Beltway" around the city like they have in Atlanta, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Columbus,... It could provide a fast way from anywhere to the airport, to other areas of the county, and even for some a way around Pittsburgh without having to go through or near the city.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by MathmanMathman

Are there any objections to beltways around cities?

Depends on what you mean. It can be useful for interstate highway traffic to be able to bypass city centers instead of having to go through them, but that is already true of the three major interstates in the Pittsburgh area (79, 70, and 76 all bypass the core area).

Beltways as a means of getting around urbanized areas tend not to be very successful, for all the usual reasons such roads tend not to be very successful--they stimulate demand and get congested. The only real way to stop that is with congestion pricing, which is a tough sell in the United States. Of course these projects can also be horrifically expensive, particularly where they are cutting through already-developed areas.

[kjtocool]

Awesome information, are there any plans to make similar upgrades to the various two lane segments of the turnpike further east? I suppose my curiosity is centered around the question: Are they attempting to make the entire PA Turnpike a 3 lane well crafted road, and if so, is there a target completion date?

[wpipkins]

Originally Posted by MathmanMathman

Are there any objections to beltways around cities? I've always thought Pittsburgh could have used an "Allegheny Beltway" around the city like they have in Atlanta, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Columbus,... It could provide a fast way from anywhere to the airport, to other areas of the county, and even for some a way around Pittsburgh without having to go through or near the city.

Most beltways suck the life out of inner cities and facilitate sprawl. I think one of the reasons why Pittsburghs job market is centralized is due to the lack of a beltway. All roads lead to Downtown Pittsburgh. Most of the high paying jobs in the metro are in and around Pittsburgh.