If only Sonny had an EZ-Pass.
Posted on 10/01/2020 9:50:21 AM PDT by foreverfree
Interesting!
Don’t ever expect New York State to stop a toll, the politicians can’t afford the hit to their cash flow cash cow.
Are those prices for a round trip across the PA turnpike? I’m pretty sure a car is < $40 one way.
$40 is still highway robbery (pun intended).
I recall reading some class of giant trucks have to pay over $2,500 to cross the PA Turnpike. My suggestion to those drivers ... you’re carrying multiple tons of weight ... you have no need to stop for anyone or to pay anything :-).
My friends and I rode and raced our bikes on the not-yet-opened Garden State Parkway when we were 9-10-11 years old. It opened (the section serving our area) in 1954. Other parts had been under construction since 1947.
Still a newbie compared to the PaTpk.
I won’t take any toll road period.
I moved to PA in 2004, we live about 3 miles from interchange 74 on the North East Extension (opened in 1957-59) in the Poconos, the former PA SR-9 now I-476. I know people that work for the turnpike and I’m a volunteer firefighter, my fire company has the contract to respond to turnpike calls on 12 miles northbound and 14 miles southbound. The turnpike commission pays us for every dispatch and some months it’s quite a bit of money. We see some very nasty wrecks on this road.
Part of that (in Carbon County) has a bridge over the Lehigh River, it was replaced a few years ago at a cost of 106 million dollars, the most costly construction project in Carbon County history. Just south of that is the Lehigh Tunnel through the Blue Mountain. My understanding is that the northbound tubes will be refurbished soon which will probably take years and force traffic into/out of the Poconos onto the northbound tubes causing a huge bottleneck.
There are times when taking the turnpike makes sense but as others have said it’s expensive and the tolls go up all the time. So I try to avoid using the turnpike as much as possible.
The history of the PA Turnpike (or as known around here as the Penna Turnpike) is very interesting. The first time I was on it, was the East West portion in 1976, went from the NJ border to New Stanton. Even then there were short sections in the hills that traffic was reduced to 1 lane each direction. Mt thoughts at the time were that the PA Turnpike was quite crude in comparison to the Garden State Parkway or even the NJ Turnpike.
I recall driving the North East Extension in 1990 for a business trip, the Lehigh Tunnel southbound tube was under construction at that time.
I’m surprised that the author of the linked article didn’t mention in addition to I-80 traffic also will use I-78 whcih is positioned between the Turnpike East West and I-80. I-76 travels from New Jersey, through the Lehigh Valley ending in Harrisburg.
Historical note: when the Turnpike opened, it had no speed limit. Motorists were simply advised To “drive carefully.”
I was born and raised in Maine. After the military it would cost me $30 in tolls to get home from Maryland. Cost me $6.00 to get out of Maryland to go to Virginia unless I detoured 50 miles out of the way.
I don’t go anywhere in the Northeast anymore.. done with it and done with Maryland since I retired. I can go anywhere else in the US with no tolls and I live in the Mountains. I’ll take the Khyber Pass and a moonshine route any day... because I have the time !!
Prices were taken from here:
https://turnpikeinfo.com/toll-calculator.php?road_name=pennsylvania-turnpike&state=pennsylvania
Wow. I got the same results as you for PA Turnpike pricing.
That is disgusting. Beyond disgusting. I don’t think they realize that the higher prices will simply steer people to alternate routes. You can bypass a lot of I-76 by taking I-68 through WVa and Western MD. There will come a point very soon where that will make a lot more financial sense. I don’t think you’d lose much time either since the PA Turnpike has a lot more traffic jams than other highways.
I had heard that they’re pushing to make I-80 a toll road in PA. I think we are safe for now, but if the Dems were to ever get complete control of the state, I can almost promise you that they’ll do that.
In the late 40's, we highschoolers loved driving the Hutch at night because of fog and no center dividers...
Thrills provided by drunk drivers coming out of the city or herds of deer (in the fall) streaking across the highway...
I wrecked my favorite car (1935 Ford) when I was a 13-year-old sophomore 3-times on that road... The secret to never having serious injuries, we thought, was to pack the car with at least 6 guys and gals... It worked for tree, stone wall, & brush removals, one rollover, and one head-on... Deer could only bust headlights... Never dent a fender...
I sure missed the thrill of mechanical brakes when, as a junior, I traded it for two 1935 Plymouths so I could move on to hydraulic brakes... Also missed my water-injected V8...
I think the I30 tollway was before the NTTA.
See the Shunpiking link.
1957 - 1977 for the Dallas-Fort Worth Turnpike. Paid off in 20 years.
Here’s an idea Pennsylvania, either lower the tolls or fix the sinks in the rest areas. It’s amazing how few of them actually work.
I frequently travel the PA turnpike and have to go up through NYC for work, often pulling a dual axle trailer. My EZ Pass has refilled so often that they now refill it at $125 instead of $35.
I’ve done the Morgantown route before and also recently found a better way to get to New England.
Hadn’t heard Shunpiking term before
If I ever have the time, I really want to run 30 west from I-95 at least through Ohio
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.