The Pennsylvania Turnpike, sometimes shortened to Penna Turnpike or PA Turnpike, is a controlled-access toll road which is operated by the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (PTC) in Pennsylvania. It runs for 360 miles (580 km) across the southern part of the state, connecting Pittsburgh, Harrisburg and Philadelphia, and passes through four tunnels as it crosses the Appalachian Mountains. A component of the Interstate Highway System, it is part of I-76 between the Ohio state line and Valley Forge (running concurrently with I-70 between New Stanton and Breezewood), I-276 between Valley Forge and Bristol Township, and I-95 from Bristol Township to the New Jersey state line. The turnpike's western terminus is at the Ohio state line in Lawrence County, where it continues west as the Ohio Turnpike. The eastern terminus is the New Jersey state line at the Delaware River–Turnpike Toll Bridge, which crosses the Delaware River in Bucks County. It continues east as the Pearl Harbor Memorial Extension of the New Jersey Turnpike. The turnpike has an all-electronic tolling system; tolls may be paid using E-ZPass or toll by plate, which uses automatic license plate recognition. Cash tolls were collected with a ticket and barrier toll system before they were phased out between 2016 and 2020. The turnpike currently has 15 service plazas, providing food and fuel to travelers. The turnpike was designed during the 1930s to improve automobile transportation across the Pennsylvania mountains, using seven tunnels built for the South Pennsylvania Railroad in the 1880s. It opened in 1940 between Irwin and Carlisle. Branded as "America's First Superhighway", the turnpike, an early long-distance limited-access U.S. highway, was a model for future limited-access toll roads and the Interstate Highway System. It was extended east to Valley Forge in 1950 and west to the Ohio state line in 1951. The road was extended east to the Delaware River in 1954, and construction began on an extension into Northeastern Pennsylvania. The mainline turnpike was finished in 1956 with the completion of the Delaware River Bridge. From 1962 to 1971, an additional tube was built at four of the two-lane tunnels, with two cuts built to replace the three others; this made the entirety of the road four lanes wide. Improvements continue to be made: rebuilding to meet modern standards, widening portions to six lanes, and construction or reconstruction of interchanges.
Route description The turnpike runs west to east across Pennsylvania, from the Ohio state line in Lawrence County to the New Jersey state line in Bucks County. It passes through the Pittsburgh, Harrisburg, and Philadelphia areas, farmland and woodland. The highway crosses the Appalachian Mountains in central Pennsylvania, passing through four tunnels. The PTC, created in 1937 to construct, finance, operate, and maintain the road, controls the highway. In 2023, the turnpike had annual average daily traffic ranging from a high of 120,000 vehicles (between the Norristown Interchange and the Fort Washington Interchange) to a low of 21,000 (between the Breezewood Interchange and the Carlisle Interchange). It is part of the National Highway System, a network of roads important to the U.S. economy, defense, and mobility. The turnpike is a Blue Star Memorial Highway, honoring those who have served in the United States Armed Forces, and the Garden Club Federation of Pennsylvania has placed Blue Star Memorial Highway markers at its service plazas. In addition to the east–west mainline, the PTC also operates the Northeast Extension (I-476), the Beaver Valley Expressway (I-376), the Mon–Fayette Expressway (PA 43), the Amos K. Hutchinson Bypass (PA 66), and the Southern Beltway (PA 576).
Western Extension
The turnpike begins at the Ohio state line in Lawrence County, where it continues west as the Ohio Turnpike. From the state line, the highway heads southeast as a four-lane freeway (I-76) through rural areas south of New Castle. A short distance from the Ohio line, the eastbound lanes pass the electronic Gateway toll gantry, where the road widens to six lanes. The highway then reaches Beaver County and the first interchange with I-376 (the Beaver Valley Expressway) in Big Beaver, narrowing back to four lanes. It then passes under Norfolk Southern's Koppel Secondary rail line before the exit for PA 18 near Homewood, crossing CSX's Pittsburgh Subdivision rail line, the Beaver River, and Norfolk Southern's Youngstown Line on the Beaver River Bridge. The road enters Butler County and Cranberry Township, where an interchange accesses I-79 and US 19. It widens to six lanes and continues through rural land and suburban development north of Pittsburgh into Allegheny County. The turnpike approaches the Warrendale toll gantry (where the closed toll system begins) and continues southeast, narrowing to four lanes and passing over the CSX P&W Subdivision rail line operated by the Buffalo and Pittsburgh Railroad to an interchange with PA 8 in Hampton Township, becoming six lanes wide again. The Allegheny Valley exit in Harmar Township accesses PA 28 via Freeport Road. The road then heads south, with Canadian National's Bessemer Subdivision rail line parallel on the east, before crossing Norfolk Southern's Conemaugh Line, the Allegheny River, and the Allegheny Valley Railroad's Allegheny Subdivision line on the Allegheny River Turnpike Bridge. After the river crossing, the road passes through the Oakmont Country Club before a bridge over Canadian National's Bessemer Subdivision; where it narrows to four lanes and the rail tracks parallel the west side of the road before splitting further west. The highway heads southeast to Monroeville, an eastern suburb of Pittsburgh; an interchange with the eastern terminus of I-376 and US 22 (the Penn–Lincoln Parkway) accesses Pittsburgh. It traverses eastern Allegheny County before entering Westmoreland County. The turnpike then heads south and passes over Norfolk Southern's Pittsburgh Line before the exit for US 30 near Irwin.
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