Construction news along the Pennsylvania Turnpike (Philadelphia, Pittsburgh: 2015, restaurants, dangerous)

[Craziaskowboi]

DISCLAIMER: This is not a topic to talk about redundant government bureaucracy or political corruption. This is a topic to highlight the long-term efforts to upgrade the oldest highway in the United States to a modern highway. Thank you for adhering to the topic.

Since the Pennsylvania Turnpike is 359 miles long and serves more than just Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, I thought it'd be good to take a comprehensive look at the improvements that have been made to it in recent years, plus projects upcoming in the next few. There's an ongoing effort to reconstruct the entire length of the Turnpike from the ground up, and also widen it to six lanes where feasible. Here are the segments that have been reconstructed, and the year in which each project was completed:


MM 0 to MM 10 (2009)
(Widened to six lanes between MM 2 and MM 10, included new EZ Pass lanes at the eastbound toll plaza, and eliminated the westbound toll plaza.)

MM 31 to MM 38 (2012)
(Widened to six lanes.)

MM 38 to MM 40 (2005)
(Reconstructed but remained four lanes, and included a reconfiguration of Exit 38.)

MM 48 to MM 50 (2010)
(Widened to six lanes, and included a new pair of bridges over the Allegheny River.)

MM 67 to MM 75 (2011)
(Widened to six lanes, and realigned from MM 70 to MM 72.)

MM 76 to MM 85 (2002)
(Reconstructed but remains four lanes, except for truck lanes where necessary.)

MM 85 to MM 94 (2005)
(Reconstructed but remained four lanes, except for truck lanes where necessary.)

MM 94 to MM 99 (2000)
(Reconstructed but remained four lanes, except for truck lanes where necessary.)

MM 109 to MM 121 (2002)
(Reconstructed but remained four lanes.)

MM 187 to MM 197 (2001)
(Reconstructed but remained four lanes.)

MM 210 to MM 215 (2009)
(Widened to six lanes.)

MM 215 to MM 220 (2012)
(Widened to six lanes.)

MM 245 to MM 247 (2008)
(Widened to six lanes, and included a new pair of bridges over the Susquehanna River.)

MM 319 to MM 320 (2012)
(Widened to six lanes, and included a new EZPass-only interchange.)

MM 326 to MM 333 (2008)
(Widened to six lanes.)


Here are the segments that are currently being reconstructed, and the year in which each project is expected to be completed:


MM 40 to MM 48 (2017)
(To be widened to six lanes.)

MM 199 to MM 202 (2013)
(To be widened to six lanes, and includes a reconfiguration of Exit 201.)

MM 242 to MM 245 (2016)
(To be widened to six lanes.)

MM 320 to MM 326 (2016)
(To be widened to six lanes.)

MM 350 to MM 358 (2022?)
(To be widened to six lanes, and includes construction of a new toll plaza, a new bridge over the Delaware River, and a high-speed interchange with I-95 to complete the missing link between Philadelphia and New York.)


Here are the segments that are currently in their design phase, and the year in which each of them is expected to begin reconstruction:


MM 57 to MM 67 (beginning 2016)
(To be widened to six lanes.)

MM 99 to MM 109 (beginning 2014)
(To be widened to six lanes, and includes a reconfiguration of Exit 109.)

MM 129 to MM 134 (beginning 2015)
(To be widened to six lanes.)

MM 149 to MM 156 (beginning 2017)
(To be widened to six lanes.)

MM 220 to MM 226 (beginning 2014)
(To be widened to six lanes.)

MM 312 to MM 319 (beginning 2018)
(To be widened to six lanes.)


Lastly, here are the segments that have recently been bid on by engineering firms:


MM 13 to MM 14
(To be widened to six lanes, and includes a reconfiguration of Exit 13 and new pair of bridges over the Beaver River.)

MM 28 to MM 31
(To be widened to six lanes.)

MM 49 to MM 53
(To be widened to six lanes.)

MM 53 to MM 57
(To be widened to six lanes, and includes a reconfiguration of Exit 57.)

MM 298 to MM 312
(To be widened to six lanes.)

MM 333 to MM 351
(Possible reconstruction and design updates to a segment widened in 1987.)


All this leaves the following segments of the Turnpike unaccounted for in the near term:


MM 10 to MM 13
(Non-toll segment of the Turnpike between the west junction of I-376 and the Beaver River near Pittsburgh.)

MM 14 to MM 28
(Non-toll segment of the Turnpike between the Beaver River and I-79 near Pittsburgh.)

MM 121 to MM 129
(Will possibly include a realignment or replacement of the Allegheny Mountain Tunnel.)

MM 134 to MM 149
(Will probably include a reconfiguration of Exit 146.)

MM 156 to MM 187
(Will possibly include a reconfiguration of Exit 161, and realignments or replacements of the Tuscarora and Kittatinny Tunnels.)

MM 226 to MM 242
(Will possibly include reconfigurations of Exits 226 and 242.)

MM 247 to MM 298
(Will probably include a reconfiguration of Exit 298.)


In short, all but 135 miles of the Pennsylvania Turnpike should be reconstructed by the end of this decade.

[Ohiogirl81]

Which part is between the Bedford and Breezewood exits? This one?

MM 149 to MM 156 (beginning 2017)
(To be widened to six lanes.)

Because that's the stretch that frightens me the most; it's curvy, skinny and bumpy ...

... and it's sooo much more exhilarating when there's a truck attempting to plow into your trunk.

[Craziaskowboi]

Originally Posted by Ohiogirl81

Which part is between the Bedford and Breezewood exits? This one?
Because that's the stretch that frightens me the most; it's curvy, skinny and bumpy ...

... and it's sooo much more exhilarating when there's a truck attempting to plow into your trunk.

Yeah, Bedford is Exit 146, and Breezewood is Exit 161. They're planning to widen a segment in between those exits (MM 149 to MM 156) to six lanes, but they're leaving the exits themselves and the segments of highway nearest to them alone for now. Methinks they have plans to dramatically reconfigure both interchanges since they're at the junctions of Interstates. (They did the same at I-79 near Pittsburgh, and it's excellent.) It'll probably be easier to do in Bedford, though, because the businesses in Breezewood have repeatedly shot down any attempts to modernize the interchange there, which is why I-70 traffic has to multiplex with U.S. 30 for half a mile past all the restaurants and truck stops. It's one of only two places on the entire Eisenhower Interstate Highway System to have traffic signals.

Here's a "before and after" cross section of the newly-reconstructed six-lane segments of the Turnpike:



Basically, the right-of-way is being widened from 82' to 122', and not only are two extra lanes being added, but the interior shoulders are being widened from 4' to 12' in each direction. AASHTO says that 4' interior shoulders are acceptable for four-lane Interstates, but an expansion to six or more lanes requires matching 12' interior and exterior shoulders. That should go a long way in alleviating any non-tunnel-related claustrophobia on the Turnpike as it gets widened.

[fisheye]

I know that they were working on replacing the low, outdated, bridges. You posted several pictures of the old and new ones. However; I am curious if all of the old (low) bridges have been replaced?

I am a retired truck driver so I do not use the Turnpike like I used to use it. It just always bothered me that we had some bridges that were too low over the shoulders of the road. You might have told me before that all the bridges were rebuilt?

I do like six lane roads. It gives us more choices. The downside is that it is more pavement to maintain.

[Craziaskowboi]

Originally Posted by fisheye

I know that they were working on replacing the low, outdated, bridges. You posted several pictures of the old and new ones. However; I am curious if all of the old (low) bridges have been replaced?

I am a retired truck driver so I do not use the Turnpike like I used to use it. It just always bothered me that we had some bridges that were too low over the shoulders of the road. You might have told me before that all the bridges were rebuilt?

I do like six lane roads. It gives us more choices. The downside is that it is more pavement to maintain.

Overpasses are being rebuilt with each segment of the Turnpike. Typically, the overpasses are rebuilt a year or two in advance of the highway itself being rebuilt.

[swbrotha100]

I'm glad to see some of the widening and modernizing going on. I really wish the I-95 interchange could be done sooner than 2022!

[SteelCityRising]

I'm thrilled to see that interior shoulders are being paved as part of the reconstruction. I've always been terrified of having a mechanical failure, tire blow-out, etc. in the left-hand lane and being unable to safely and immediately veer off to the right-hand shoulder. Now if this happened to me I could just coast to the left and be safely out of everyone's way.

[fisheye]

Originally Posted by SteelCityRising

I'm thrilled to see that interior shoulders are being paved as part of the reconstruction. I've always been terrified of having a mechanical failure, tire blow-out, etc. in the left-hand lane and being unable to safely and immediately veer off to the right-hand shoulder. Now if this happened to me I could just coast to the left and be safely out of everyone's way.

One thing Ohio does in construction zones is to allow lighter traffic to use the shoulders of their interstates. They put up signs for no commercial vehicles in the left or right lane (whichever is the shoulder). Then they allow light traffic use of the shoulder (the shoulders do not have a base as strond as the highway). The net effect is that traffic flows quick through their construction zones. Five years ago, during my last year driving as a commercial driver, I saw PA starting to use this practice (somewhere around Pittsburgh). I hope that we make/made additional use of this practice.

Construction zones are dangerous. But the majority of people killed in construction zones are motorist (10 to 1 by the NHTSA web site). If we stop traffic; there is a chance somebody will not stop (they will be distracted or not expecting the stopped traffic). The better we keep traffic moving in construction zones; the fewer accidents.

That is why I also like wide shoulders + it gives us a place to safely pull off the highway and a place for our State Police to safely pull over motorist.

[Craziaskowboi]

Here's a map of the Turnpike system illustrating the progress on the various reconstruction projects as of December 2012. Segments that have been reconstructed are shaded PURPLE. Segments under construction (in December 2012) are shaded ORANGE. Segments that are on the table and ready to be reconstructed in the next few years are shaded GREEN.

By 2020, only four segments will be left to reconstruct:


MM 14 to MM 28 - Beaver River to I-79

MM 133 to MM 149 - On both sides of I-99

MM 162 to MM 180 - I-70 (east junction) to the Tuscarora Tunnel

MM 227 to MM 245 - I-81 to I-83

MM 252 to MM 298 - PA 283 to I-176

MM 333 to MM 351 - I-476 to I-95

[armourereric]

I look forward to when the PTC goes back and widens between the 70's.