Total Rebuild

Franklin D. Roosevelt was in the White House and World War II raged when the original Pennsylvania Turnpike between Irwin and Carlisle was constructed largely on the route of the ill-fated South Pennsylvania Railroad. For the first time since it was built in the late 1930’s, the remaining sections of the original Turnpike are going to be completely rebuilt.

Of course the original Pennsylvania Turnpike has changed considerably in the years since it was constructed. New lanes, median barriers, and frequent overlays of asphalt have kept the highway up to interstate standards. Beginning next spring, sections of the original highway will be completely removed and rebuilt from the ground up.

The first section of the Turnpike to be rebuilt begins at milepost 94.00 east of the Donegal Interchange and extends milepost 99.23 near the Westmoreland/Somerset County border. Preparations for the project are already underway in the form of the widening of an overhead bridge to accommodate traffic control during the roadway construction phase of the project. Work is expected to be completed by the fall of 2000.

Turnpike Executive Director John T. Durbin said the highway is "carrying traffic volumes that were not even imagined in the 1940 when the Turnpike first opened for business. After five and a half decades of use the time has come to totally rebuild the highway."

To that end, the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission has awarded a $24 million contract to the Lane Construction Corporation of Meriden, CT to complete the first total rebuild project. A series of projects will be undertaken over the next 16 years resulting in the total reconstruction of those portions of the original Turnpike which have not already been by-passed or upgraded. When completed, a total of 160 miles of roadway will be rebuilt.

The project involves the complete removal of the existing roadway which will then be reconstructed from the ground up including new grading, new drainage systems new pavement, new guide rails and a new median barrier.

A major new design feature of the reconstructed Turnpike will be the median area. Where space permits, the median area will be widened to 18-feet. A newly designed concrete barrier will occupy the middle of the median area. There will be eight-foot wide shoulders between the median barrier and the left lane on each side of the barrier.

"The result will be a feeling of more openness for motorists who are driving in the left lanes of the Turnpike," said Durbin. "The feel will be comparable to that of other interstate highways." The wider medians are also viewed by the Turnpike as a safety feature that will permit emergency vehicles easier access to accident sites and provide additional space for traffic to flow when lanes are blocked.

The reconstructed Turnpike will also include now-standard safety features such as the SNAP (Sonic Nap Alert Pattern) rumble strips along the right edge of the highway and recessed reflectors. Guide rails and signage will remain consistent with those current utilized by the Turnpike.

No mainline bridges will be affected by the rebuild, although the one overhead bridge will be altered this year in preparation for next spring’s construction activity.

The Turnpike plans to maintain four lanes of traffic flow during most of the construction project. On those occasions when two lane restrictions are necessary, they will be largely limited to off-peak traffic hours.