The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission recently announced it will spend $3 million in recently acquired federal funds and $750,000 in toll dollars to install advanced traveler information systems, including highway advisory radio, variable message signs and surveillance cameras at several high traffic volume locations along the entire 506 mile long Turnpike System.

When the Pennsylvania Turnpike officially opened for business on October 1, 1940, it was America's first superhighway. The original 160-mile section between Irwin in Westmoreland County and Middlesex in Cumberland County was such a novel concept that on the first Sunday of its operation, an astounding 27,000 motorists traveled on the new roadway. Turnpike planners

predicted that in the first full year of operation, the toll road would attract 1.3 million vehicles. Actual usage--at 2.4 million--was nearly twice that amount.
         Today, the Pennsylvania Turnpike is a key transportation route within the State of Pennsylvania and a vital link in the network of the eastern United States. The Turnpike spans 506 miles and carries traffic volumes unimaginable in the 1940s. Presently, more than 138 million vehicles travel over four billion miles a year on the Turnpike with each succeeding year marking an increase in Turnpike traffic.
          To accommodate the ever-increasing traffic volumes and to insure safety, comfort and convenience for the motoring public, the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission must continually renew and improve its roadway. That effort includes planning, designing and implementing systems that will keep commuters, businesses and local organizations informed about construction plans and traffic impacts.
         According to Turnpike officials, the most immediate plans for highway advisory radio and variable message sign systems, are in the works for the Philadelphia area and the Schuylkill River Bridge where a $40 million bridge widening and rehabilitation project between the Valley Forge (#24) and Norristown (#25) Interchanges in the Philadelphia area is scheduled to begin next summer.
         Originally opened to traffic in 1954, this critical link bears the highest traffic volume of any four lane sections of the Turnpike--carrying approximately 50,000 vehicles daily.
         The construction project known as the "Schuylkill River Bridge/Diamond Run Viaduct Project," will begin in June and continue through August 1999 on a stretch of roadway from the Flint Hill Road Overpass (east of the Valley Forge Interchange, milepost 330.24) to the Ridge Pike Overpass (west of the Norristown Interchange, milepost 332.11)
         To keep travelers informed about the project, the Turnpike Commission, will install five Highway Advisory Radio sites at the Downingtown, Valley Forge, Mid County, Willow Grove and Lansdale interchanges. Variable Message Signs will be located on the East-West Mainline in advance of the Valley Forge and Mid County interchanges and on the Northeastern Extension in advance of the junction with the mainline. These systems will be operational prior to the beginning of construction work on the Schuylkill River Bridge which is anticipated to begin in June or July.
         "Providing travelers in advance with information about highway conditions is an important and necessary component of our customer service program," said Executive Director John Durbin. "We know that Turnpike motorists, traveling both long and short distances, value and appreciate information about construction, traffic and weather that is provided quickly and efficiently. We intend to respond to those needs."
         Durbin said that the Commission's objective includes construction and implementation of several other Highway Advisory Radio and Variable Message Sign sites. Proposed HAR sites include the Cranberry, Pittsburgh, New Stanton, Bedford, Breezewood, Carlisle, Harrisburg West, Harrisburg East, Morgantown, Pocono, and Philadelphia interchanges. VMS sites are proposed for the Pittsburgh, New Stanton, Bedford and Allegheny Valley interchanges. In addition, surveillance cameras will be installed at Mid County and Valley Forge interchanges so that operators in Harrisburg can monitor traffic flow in those areas.
         "This is an ambitious program that will build on the Turnpike's valued tradition of providing service and safety to our customers," Durbin said. "It is also the first of many critical steps that the Commission must take to ready our roadway for the future and for more comprehensive intelligent transportation systems which include electronic toll collection."