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Mar 9, 2021 · From a global perspective, the Pennsylvania Turnpike is nearly two-and-a-half times as expensive as its closest rival, Grossglockner High Alpine, the highest surfaced mountain pass in Austria....
The Pennsylvania Turnpike (shortened to Penna Turnpike or PA Turnpike) is a controlled-access toll road that is operated by the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (PTC) in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in the United States.
In nineteenth century America, “turnpike” specifically means a toll road with a surface of gravel and earth, as opposed to “plank roads” which refer to toll roads surfaced by wooden planks. Later in the century, all such roads were typically just “toll roads.”
A toll road, also known as a turnpike or tollway, is a public or private road (almost always a freeway since the 1940s) for which a fee (or toll) is assessed for passage. It is a form of road pricing typically implemented to help recoup the costs of road construction and maintenance.
The Turnpike was the first superhighway in the country, America’s answer to the Autobahn, and quite the tourist attraction. “It seems crazy that people would just drive on the highway as an activity,” says Curt Miner, senior history curator at the Pennsylvania State Museum.
The earlier road, in addition to serving as the link between Philadelphia and Lancaster (founded in 1729), was the “ Great Wagon Road ” that enabled migrants and freight to move west across southeastern Pennsylvania and from there into the backcountry of Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina.
People also ask
Is a turnpike a plank road?
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What is a turnpike & how does it work?
Apr 8, 2020 · The Philadelphia & Lancaster Turnpike Road was the first hard-surfaced road in the United States. Interestingly enough, the Commonwealth could not afford to pay for its construction, so it was privately built. The total bill was $465,000 or $7,500 per mile. Adjusted for inflation, that’s $ 153,975 per mile in 2020.
