The widening of the Pennsylvania Turnpike between Cranberry and New Stanton (Pittsburgh: 2015, construction)

[Craziaskowboi]

Within the next five years, virtually all of the Pennsylvania Turnpike between Cranberry (Exit 28) and New Stanton (Exit 75) will be reconstructed from the ground up and widened to six lanes.

Some of the work has already been completed for a few years now, including reconfigurations of the Cranberry (Exit 28), Butler Valley (Exit 39) and Allegheny Valley (Exit 48) interchanges, the construction of a mainline toll plaza at MM 30 and a pair of new bridges over the Allegheny River between MM 48 and MM 49, and reconstruction between MM 28 and MM 31, and between MM 38 and MM 40.

Some of the work is currently underway. Reconstruction between MM 67 and MM 75 will be finished by this fall, and includes the reconfiguration of the New Stanton (Exit 75) interchange. Reconstruction between MM 31 and MM 38 will be finished by fall 2012. Here are photo galleries of the reconstruction progress between MM 67 and MM 75, and between MM 31 and MM 38. Since the MM 67 to MM 75 segment is a year farther along than the MM 31 to MM 38 segment, it's closer to completion, but within a year, the MM 31 to MM 38 segment will look much more like the MM 67 to MM 75 segment.

Here's one picture from the MM 67 to MM 75 segment, courtesy of the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission's project page:



Notice the extra lanes, the sound walls, and the 12-foot shoulder between the inner lanes and the median barrier, upon which the red truck fits comfortably. All segments of the Pennsylvania Turnpike that are widened to six lanes will have expanded median shoulders. Reconstructed four-lane segments in other parts of the state are only required by federal Interstate standards to have a four-foot shoulder between the inner lanes and the median barrier.

There's still plenty of work left to be done, though. About three months ago, the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission hosted an open-house meeting to detail their plans for the reconstruction of the highway between MM 40 and MM 48. New overpasses have to be built along the entire segment before mainline reconstruction can begin. Bridgework will begin early next year, and based on the time frame for the two segments of the highway currently under construction, the MM 40 to MM 48 segment should be finished by 2015 or 2016.

A longer-term project will be the reconstruction of the MM 49 to MM 67 segment, plus the reconfiguration of the Pittsburgh (Exit 57) interchange. The interchange handles enough traffic that the existing trumpet interchange is obsolete. Don't be surprised if it becomes a "directional T" interchange in the intermediate future. Reconstructing this segment and interchange will probably be the most expensive project of all since a lot of overpasses and long mainline bridge spans will need to be replaced, extra right of way for an expanded interchange will need to be purchased, and multiple new bridge spans will have to be built at the interchange. (The more bridge and tunnel work there is, the more expensive a road construction project becomes.) In the interim, getting all nearby segments of the highway reconstructed and expanded has to be, and is being, done.

By the way, here's a comparison of the reconstructed cross sections of the Pennsylvania Turnpike with the original cross sections:



The roadbed is almost twice as thick as it used to be, so it should last much longer before reconstruction is necessary. Only the top layer will need occasional milling down and resurfacing on reconstructed segments of the highway.

[South Range Family]

It's about time. That concrete funnel is an accident waiting to happen. It scares me to death.

[lifepgh2op]

Nice. I wish all of our highways (parkways) looked like this. Some, even wider...

[Faer]

Meh, road widening is always subject to diminishing returns. Besides, aside from construction or an accident, I've never felt the turnpike had that heavy of traffic. I would have much preferred if that money would have went to newer continuous arteries into the metro area if it had to go to building roads (but then again I would support a modified version of the MFX, so what do I know).

[Craziaskowboi]

Originally Posted by lifepgh2op

Nice. I wish all of our highways (parkways) looked like this. Some, even wider...

The cost to widen I-376 to a proper six-lane highway through Pittsburgh would be in the billions. Bill Steigerwald would cry.

[BrianTH]

Although that is a lot of money, at least it isn't destroying significant amounts of land value, which is the case with urban highways.

[SammyKhalifa]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

Although that is a lot of money, at least it isn't destroying significant amounts of land value, which is the case with urban highways.

I just recently came across a site showing a bunch of canceled highway plans from the 1960s or so. One interesting expressway looks like it would have come off of Rte 51, through the Southside to Oakland, then up the East side of town and connected with Rte 8. Maybe this is common knowledge but it's new to me:

Pittsburgh Highways:* Pittsburgh's Cancelled Expressways

That no doubt would have taken out some property but it also would have made it a lot easier to get 'dere from 'ere.

I think I also remember hearing that at one point in the original plans, the Squirrel Hill Tunnel was going to be six lanes. The budget was slashed because they thought there would never be a reason for it to be that big. Hmmm.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by SammyKhalifa

That no doubt would have taken out some property but it also would have made it a lot easier to get 'dere from 'ere.

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.

[SammyKhalifa]

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.

In general, maybe. But a way to get to Oakland or points East/North from the South hills would have taken traffic away from the Ft Pitt Tunnels, parts of the Parkway East, the current Crosstown Boulevard, the West End Bridge, and probably even Rte 28--essentially, many of the currently-overloaded highways. It looks to me like those roads were designed with an Eastern Route in mind, and have never really worked right since the day they opened. Now the Sprawl might have just moved along with this hypothetical road--who knows.

Interesting to me though is that the cost they balked at back then would have well more than paid for itself by now.

[hempfield mania]

Their multi-millions back then are our 100's of billions today.

I just wish PGH had a proper limited access loop to divert traffic from downtown proper.

I would much rather take a loop to get to I-79N than the turnpike and tolls or having to go through the city to get to 279N. Also, a loop along the southern tier of the county would help all us in the East get to the airport much quicker and keep us out of the city.

As for someone mentioning the turnpike traffic, even before the construction related to all this widening, the weekends on the T-pike could be horrendous b/w Cranberry and New Stanton. Throw in a fender bender or an overturned tractor trailer and you are talking 5-7 mile back-ups.

Part of the widening work includes smoothing out some of the tight turns that aren't the best for truck traffic at 65mph.