ROAD CLOSED; ABANDONED SECTION OF PENNSYLVANIA TURNPIKE MAY GET A CHANCE AT ANOTEHR LIFE.(Revs)

Byline: BOB TOMAINE

A half-century of interstate highways has made the excitement of the Pennsylvania Turnpike's opening hard to imagine. Exploring an unused stretch on the now-abandoned highway, however, reveals what all the fuss was about on Oct. 1, 1940.

The Southern Alleghenies Conservancy owns 8.5 miles of former turnpike, mostly in Fulton County, that is being developed as the Pike to Bike Trail (pike2bike.org). The timetable depends on financing, but the completed trail between Breezewood and Hiram will look much like the turnpike did 66 years ago when drivers lined up for the tollbooths' 12:01 a.m. openings.

"This idea is so great because it is the nation's first superhighway and it has been abandoned,'' said Bob McKinley, project development director for Fulton County.

Today's users are at their own risk, since the trail is officially closed. Its turnpike life ended in 1968 before any modernization, but its allure in 1940 is obvious.

The 160-mile turnpike opened with no speed limit, intersections or traffic lights between Carlisle and Irwin, due largely to the highway using vast sections of the uncompleted South Pennsylvania Railroad. The South Penn was abandoned in 1885 with nine tunnels started and miles of right-of-way graded; following it fairly closely gave the turnpike an excellent route.

The tunnels minimized curves and grades for the highway, but also created staggering backups by squeezing four lanes to two, so the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission added second bores to some ...