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5 unusual facts about Pennsylvania Turnpike


Louis Berger

He was a former faculty member of Pennsylvania State University's engineering department which designed a large portion of the Pennsylvania Turnpike.

New Cumberland Defense Depot

It is adjacent to the Capital City Airport and a short distance east of the Harrisburg West Shore interchange of the Pennsylvania Turnpike (Interstate 76, which forms the southern boundary of the base) with Interstate 83.

Penn State Harrisburg

Penn State Harrisburg's campus is easily accessible via major interstate routes and the Pennsylvania Turnpike at exit 247.

Pennsylvania Turnpike/Interstate 95 Interchange Project

A 1980 article in The New York Times stated: Killing I-95 means that the entire length of the turnpike almost surely will become the official I-95 artery through the state, thus assuring it a continued source of toll revenue.

Roy Rogers Restaurants

An exception is the Allentown service plaza on the Pennsylvania Turnpike's Northeast Extension, which serves its customers in the typical fast-food fashion since it reopened in May 2008 (the entire service plaza had been rebuilt).


Alfred E. Driscoll

The Driscoll Bridge on the Garden State Parkway across the Raritan River was named in his honor, and a failed planned extension of the New Jersey Turnpike (similar in nature to the Pennsylvania Turnpike's Northeast Extension) would have also borne his name.

Bear Creek Township, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania

The township was the site of a plane crash on May 21, 2000, when an airplane, in its attempt to land at the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport in nearby Avoca, crashed in what was described by the BBC as a "wooded area" of the township near the intersection of Bear Creek Boulevard (PA-Route 115) and the Northeast Extension of the Pennsylvania Turnpike, killing the pilot as well as all 19 passengers.

Cetronia, Pennsylvania

Interstate 476, the Northeast Extension of the Pennsylvania Turnpike, forms the informal boundary between this area and the Kuhnsville area just to the west.

Churchill, Pennsylvania

Westbound I-376 from Churchill goes to Interstate 279 and downtown Pittsburgh, while eastbound I-376 goes to the Pennsylvania Turnpike.

Clifford Brown

While driving at night in the rain on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, west of Bedford, she lost control of the car and it went off the road.

Kuhnsville, Pennsylvania

Interstate 476, the Northeast Extension of the Pennsylvania Turnpike, forms the informal boundary between this area and the Cetronia and Walbert areas to the east.

Manayunk Expressway

The Manayunk Expressway was to begin in Plymouth Meeting, Montgomery County, at the Mid-County Interchange where I-276 (Pennsylvania Turnpike) and I-476 (Blue Route/Northeast Extension) currently meet.

Old Boston, Pennsylvania

It is located in the Wyoming Valley east of Interstate 81 and along Interstate 476 just south of the Wyoming Valley Interchange of the Pennsylvania Turnpike.

Pennsylvania Route 230

In Highspire, it intersects Eisenhower Boulevard, a main road connecting PA 230 to Interstate 283, Pennsylvania Route 283, and Interstate 76 (Pennsylvania Turnpike).

The Pennsylvania Turnpike passes over PA 230, and has an interchange with an airport connector that connects with Harrisburg International Airport.

Pennsylvania Route 534

The route runs east through more forested areas of the state park, heading east-southeast and passing under I-476 (Northeast Extension of the Pennsylvania Turnpike).

Pennsylvania Route 563

The road runs through wooded areas and passes over the Northeast Extension of the Pennsylvania Turnpike (I-476), PA 563 turns east and heads into the community of Tylersport, where it passes homes and businesses as it crosses Allentown Road.

Pennsylvania Route 903

The route heads through forested areas with some wooded residential subdivisions, running through Christmans and passing over I-476 (Northeast Extension of the Pennsylvania Turnpike).

Sideling Hill

The Pennsylvania Turnpike (Interstate 76) crosses Sideling Hill east of Breezewood, Pennsylvania, bypassing the two-lane Sideling Hill tunnel and the nearby Rays Hill tunnel that were formerly used by the Turnpike.

West Virginia Turnpike

The bypass was not the first of its kind on a toll road, as the Pennsylvania Turnpike bypassed the Laurel Hill Tunnel in 1964 in similar fashion, and later bypassed two more tunnels with a single stretch of highway in 1968.


see also

Abandoned Pennsylvania Turnpike

Unlike the Pennsylvania Turnpike, the West Virginia Turnpike was built two lanes for its entire length, and needed an additional two lanes in order to get the I-77 and I-64 designations.

Camp George Meade

The site is bisected by the east-west Pennsylvania turnpike (76) east-west State Highway 283 and the north-south extension from State Highway 283 to the Harrisburg International Airport.

Pennsylvania Route 363

At this point, the route becomes the border between Towamencin Township to the northwest and Upper Gwynedd Township to the southeast, crossing under I-476 (Pennsylvania Turnpike Northeast Extension) along this stretch.

Pennsylvania Route 663

The route becomes undivided and comes to an interchange with I-476 (Pennsylvania Turnpike Northeast Extension).