We returned from Chicago last night after a wonderful visit to my home town to celebrate my mother’s 85th birthday. On the way back, I found another entry in my list of “things that tick me off” – list of those things everything in life that I find extraordinary frustrating or moronic. I created this list as a cathartic exercise to keep me from spontaneous explosions or psychotic episodes. When I encounter something like this, I simply say “I’ll add it to the list.” This week’s addition is Breezewood, Pennsylvania.
Anyone traveling from the Midwest (millions of drivers each week) will usually take the Pennsylvania Turnpike to Interstate 70. While the other turnpikes simply connect to other turnpikes or interstates with ramps, drivers hit a bottleneck at Breezewood where millions of drivers are forced to pass through the unincorporated town and stop at a red light. The result is as you might expect if you put a red light in the middle of one of the nation’s busiest highways — gridlock at peak times. Over ten years ago, Business Week called Breezewood “perhaps the purest example yet devised of the great American tourist trap…the Las Vegas of roadside strips, a blaze of neon in the middle of nowhere, a polyp on the nation’s interstate highway system.” Since then, the problems have only multiplied with the increase in traffic.
I travel through Breezewood often and generally have little trouble. We often stop at the Starbucks on the way to Pittsburgh or Chicago to see relatives. It is the perfect distance for a stop from Washington.
Last night, however, I hit the city on a weekend coming from Chicago to Washington — particularly a Sunday. We had just covered over 700 miles and four states over the prior ten hours. We then spent over an hour moving less than a mile in the chaos that is Breezewood. First, millions encounter just four or five booths to leave the turnpike. It was so bad yesterday (45 minutes just to get to the booth) that I asked the turnpike collector if this was a worst than usual day. He laughed and said that it was a typical Sunday. Then, you faced even greater chaos as cars get out of the gates and face gridlock as the five lines are merged into two lanes in a relatively short space. There are no painted lines so cars are every possible angle as they inch forward. This is to force all of the cars into a sharp curve to direct them into the center of Breezewood with its fast food joints and gas stations. The cars then hit the traffic light in the center of the town. The result can be traffic jams on three different highways that connect around the city.
In the ultimate trip through six states, we spent one-tenth of our time moving through Breezewood. Call me a skeptic, but I wonder if this is really necessary. Breezewood is historically a junction for travelers in the area. While you would not know it from the strip of fast-food joints and tee-shirt shops, the town goes back to colonial times and once housed British troops. However, it would seem easy to create a bypass ramp from the turnpike to 1-70 or an elevated ramp at the intersection to allow traffic to move directly to 1-70 without stopping at the light or the town.
This is of course not unique. There are other planned bottlenecks between highways, but few are at such a critical junction. While the transfer results in millions of dollars in sales for Breezewood, it adds huge delays for travelers going to Washington or other East Coast destinations. Such tourist traps can produce a race to the bottom if other states burden the Interstate System with bottlenecks and loops through towns like Breezewood. While there are an estimated 1000 people working in the city, millions are delayed with added costs of fuel and time. Many of us would still stop in Breezewood if we were given a choice but we are not given the choice. It is time to remove the bottleneck with a bypass in Breezewood.
Now I feel better.
You got to give the lobbyist credit for this….. Now who owns the gas station, truck stop……. Nah…. Our system would not be that corrupt….
Laughing. As kids traveling from Ohio to NJ, we loved Breezewood. As adults we are at least grateful for a nice Starbucks midst all the awful food choices. But OY! the traffic never ceases to amaze.
Have done Breezewood many times coming/going to Cleveland from DC. It’s usually only a trainwreck around this time of year. DC/Balt folks coming home and tourists on their way to DC. Consider the alternative (which adds time/miles to the trip but mitigates some hassle–which is coming back via I-68. You’d drop down to Indy then pick up 70 and drop down on 79.
The American and his car…..
The American: the long-distance traveler……
Romney, 12 hours into his trip with a station wagon full of kids, and a sick dog on the roof……
How many hours do you drive without a leg-stretcher?
Which pit-stop number is Breezewood?
Is this a symbol of the federalist system, Congress, our government?
Or our mania for working increasing amounts and decreasing returns; and shorter lifetimes, greater frequency of illness, and less free time?
Annie Liebowitz said in the film by her sister: that
her family spent their lives in a car when she was a kid. That was the natural way to see things: through the window framing everything. Was she kidding us?
I think I will start a “ticked me” list. A useful tool, it would appear.
Rich is right. It’s I-70 in Washington, PA to I-79S to Morgantown. Then I-68 E to I-270 and then on to Mclean.
FYI:
“Funding rules result in an unusual connection
I-70/I-76 Interchange
I-70 uses a surface road (part of US 30) with at-grade intersections to connect the freeway heading south to Hancock, Maryland with the ramp to I-76, which through this section is the Pennsylvania Turnpike toll road. According to the Federal Highway Administration, a division of the United States Department of Transportation, the peculiar arrangement at Breezewood resulted because at the time I-70′s toll-free segment was built, the state did not qualify for federal funds under the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956 to build a direct interchange, unless it agreed to cease collecting tolls on the Turnpike once the construction bonds were retired;[9] a direct interchange would have meant that a westbound driver on I-70 could not choose between the toll route and a free alternative, but would be forced to enter the Turnpike. However, the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission was not willing to build the interchange with its own funds, due to the expected decrease in revenue once Interstate 80 was completed through the state.[9] Accordingly, the state chose to build the unusual Breezewood arrangement in lieu of a direct interchange, thus qualifying for federal funds because this arrangement gave drivers the option of continuing on the untolled US 30.[9]”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breezewood,_Pennsylvania
Oh, I hate Breezewood! It’s the worst thing on any roads. I hate the entire idea of driving to the Midwest because of it.
Now I know another tourist trap to avoid. I have always made a habit of not stopping at such places when the tourist trap or speed trap setup is obvious. I have come to hate interstates for the most part anyway. I take the old US highways the interstates replaced. See more countryside, get to take pictures and often meet interesting people. As I grow older, speed is less important than quality of life. On the other hand, the kids are grown and no longer fight in the back seat.
I love maps.
The last time I was reincarnated I had been a good human and the guy standing in for Saint Peter at the Holy Gates let me come back as a dog. But the guy next to me had been a bad human and they were close to sending him to Hell but opted for Limbo or what some dogs call Pergatory. So he is going out the door and showed me his papers on the way back down. Breezewood, PA.
I agree with OS. I know which town to avoid now, the next time I drive to DC. Professor Turley, I feel your pain. I always seem to have trouble in Northern Indiana on the tollway when I am traveling to the East. They always find a way to cause a bottleneck.
What a civilized rant! As an Italian I’m amazed.
The first time we went through was in ’51 (I was a kid) on a trip to Williamsburg and DC. Breezewood was a tourist trap then, and only two lanes. Cops lurked behind every gas station, waiting for a furriner to make an unsignaled turn in for fuel.
One memory: At Natural Bridge park, I saw White and Colored plumbing facilities, a raw awakening for a kid.
Now, after the Breezewood insult, there’s the Beltway, making a 320 mile trip from Cleveland take longer than the 375 mile trip to see the grandkids far north of Chicago.
You should fly commercial next time; that will be a target rich rant enviroment
Ah Breezewood, neither breezy nor woody. NY to Pittsburgh milestone, mill stone, full of memories and coffee cups. Summer vacation, turkey trot and Christmas rush. Fellow travelers and family members. Sighs and whines. America on the road.
Remember going through Breezewood on trips as a kid, and we’d stop at the Superior (chain) Motel, because it had a pool.
My biggest rant about trips as a kid? My parents had a ’68 Chevy station wagon. Mom and dad up front, and three sisters in the middle seat. I was relegated to the rear-facing back seat, along with the coolers, suitcases and other misc. crap packed for the trip. Never saw where we were going, only saw where we’d been.
One-time advantage – went to cloudy Florida on a trip (winter time), and going up 95 to DC, I was the only one in the family with a tan when we got home.
Ah, Breezewood … I feel your pain. Particularly harrowing is a winter ride along the PA Turnpike narrowly surviving the 1,000 semis playing chicken with each other only to be rewarded with the gaudy lights of Breezewood.
Next time catch the train at Union … Capitol Limited … reserve Roomettes as the least expensive of 1st class travel which also includes all meals and arrive in downtown Chicago thoroughly rested and ready to begin your holiday. The kids will love it!
Question to JT and/or other PA Turnpikers – Have heard the rumor that when the speed limit was 55 (don’t know what it is now), when the toll booth attended processed your pass, that if your entry time and exit time calculated a speed over 55 mph, that a PA State Trooper would write you a summons for speeding, in excess, the turnpike ticket being prima facie evidence of speeding.
True, or suitable for Snopes (although they’ve had their issues for accuracy/veracity as well)? Inquiring minds want to know.
junctionshamus,
Never happened to me and I traveled that route constantly for many years. Speeding is a necessity when climbing the inclines trying to get out of the semi-pack. Also, for that matter, when going down the inclines trying to stay out of the way of the semis. It’s an honest to god nightmare.
The W VA pike can be worse but if one is out of the pack and evening or very early morning is approaching, the scenery is breathtaking.
Then there’s the fog ….
eniobob has the right reason for the origination of this abomination. Similar situations exist in PA at the junction of the Northeast Extension of the Turnpike with I-80 and the junction of the Turnpike with I-79 north of Pittsburgh.
I’m not familiar with the story of toll collectors doing a quick calculation with the toll tickets. I do remember reading, however, that the Turnpike tried sending out automated speeding tickets in the early days of E-Z Pass. The story goes that this practice was discontinued because it was holding down E-Z Pass usage
If I got stuck in Breezewood once by mistake and I had reason to do the trip again, I’d look for a different route.
As Rich points out, I’d probably pick up I79 at Pittsburgh, then I68 to I70 directly south of Breezewood. The number of miles added is negligible on a trip of this length and the time saved would be a lot.
Professor needs a new trip planner.
I-90 had the same thing. For a long while the only Red light from Seattle to Boston was in a small town named Wallace, Idaho. You got to drive unimpeded from Seattle for about 358 miles then go through Wallace’s stop light, then continue the remaining 3,100 miles all the way to the end.
In the 70′s the department of transportation wanted to put the highway through that would have cut through the downtown area significantly. The city council then got the feds to put the downtown on the registry for historic places. This forced the DOT to run I-90 right through a downtown with the one traffic light. It wasn’t until around 1990 a very expensive elevated overpass was erected eliminating the need to drive downtown.
I don’t know what the economic cost was to the town right after the bypass opened, but Wallace’s reputation for houses of ill repute might have been affected.
Here comes OT pappa again:
While you folks are driving down memory lane, there are other things happening. My post above was so off-key, BUT…..here comes another.
1) for laughs: BorowitzReport If the Internet is any guide, a lot of people who are pro-gun are also anti-spelling.
Read more http://www.newyorker.com/humor#ixzz22nRzSfBn
Thanks to the tipper who gave it to me. He also has a daily column there with false news and satire.
2) do you listen to your daughters or granddaughter’s ring-in programs on radio? Well I did today. It was in Swedish, a young Swedish NYC celeb was in town and answered all kinds of questions, including the most kinky sex scene she had been in. Very adept.
Want to meet her?
http://rodeo.net/niotillfem/
PS Click for the english translation of the swedish text—if you are not there when you arrive.
Boy, I hope I never have to drive anywhere East of the Rockies! Sounds horrific! Otteray, I WISH I could drive the old US system, but great stretches of Hwy 99 have simply been overlain with Interstate 5 on our main route from current abode to family in BC. With Freeway speed in WA state up to 70 MPH, it’s really terrifying, esp anywhere you’re going through urban areas! or it’s raining (duh!) or it’s after dark! and of course, “urban” is almost half the length of the state! Olympia-Ft Lewis-Tacoma-Seattle-Everett!!! argh. I think you’ve inspired me to go get Google-Earth and see what I can find, though I don’t have much hope.
i find it’s better if i don’t write things like “list of things that piss me off”. it’s just more evidence to use against me.
pete,
it does seem petty to me as well. it is after a nice meal of hotdogs and hamburgers aroundd the campfire, while the world’s burning on the horizon lights up the
sky.
but is also bad form to say so and kill the ambiance the others have created. new realization everyday now. the mind is capable of new perceptions.
Cool it. Or as Oscar Brown, jr sang: “but I was cool…” Enjoy the glow.
just don’t get ostracized.
My first impression of Pa was Breezewood. I have not rushed back.
Professor – I think we could use a re-cap of your “TTTMO”.
What about it? From 10 – 1.
Getting between I81 and the Penn Tpk in the Carlisle area is a PITA also.
Darren Smith 1, August 6, 2012 at 3:33 pm
I-90 had the same thing. For a long while the only Red light from Seattle to Boston was in a small town named Wallace, Idaho. You got to drive unimpeded from Seattle for about 358 miles then go through Wallace’s stop light, then continue the remaining 3,100 miles all the way to the end.
=========================================================
Watch out for the fires in northern Idaho. Do you think you want to go to through Missoula instead?
Take I 80 East until you hit I 39 North to Wisconsin. Then I 43.