Skip to main content

PA Updates

It took me about two months to do, but I finished a pretty big PA update over two parts. I enjoyed this update for a few reason first. It cleared me of two years worth of my own photos to add. But also because of the number of new features that were added.

So here's a review:

I added a new feature entitled, "Pennsylvania's Engineering Marvels". It opens with three features, the Kinzua Viaduct, the Tunkhannock Viaduct, and Roebling's Aqueduct. Three bridges that were major accomplishments of their time. The Kinzua Viaduct has a sad history as the 2003 tornado that severely damaged the structure and the impact to the local tourism business it has since made. As always, time will tell on the direction of this feature but it will include things beyond bridges.

I added two new covered bridges from Central PA that I took in 2005 for a trip to State College. I even added a few of my own Keystone's that I took over the past two years.

As always there were plenty of submissions including photos from Bill Symons of the Kinzua Viaduct. His photos date to 1985 and were what allowed me to do the feature. John Krakoff and his knack of finding little treasures sent along a number of photos he took in Pittsburgh in 2001 and excerpts from the 1967 PA MUTCD. Unfortunately he didn't have enough quarters to make more copies at the PennDot Library.

There's always PA Ends and a handful were updated and a page covering PA Turnpike 576 was added covering the ends of that recently opened highway. I also added photos to the Findlay Connector Page.

The funny thing for me is that after an update i feel like wow I've added a lot. And in this update I did. But not long after I'm like ok..there's still a lot more I can cover. And that has already set in. I guess since I know I have a bunch of old Turnpike Postcards from Bill Symons still to add, and that I have to rearrange the home office to find a bunch of photos Denny Pine sent me made the "Ok you still don't have much" feeling come around quicker.

As for what's next...I continue to work through my personal backlog it is still in April 2005 right now with a roadtrip page on NY 30 through the Adirondack Mountains. Looking back at the photos on that trip really made me appreciate the opportunity that I had to explore that area of the country the two years I was up there.

After that a good bit of Georgia and Florida. I've received another full cd of photos from John Krakoff along with photos from the regular contributors. A lot of the photos on John's CD will find their way to Steve Alpert as well. I think a few features may come out of John's CD...we'll see.

Then after that is South Carolina. A lot of info on I-73. One of the good things about doing this blog is that is like an open notebook for research on various features/article etc I have done or may do. The summaries of the articles help in case a local paper's website doesn't archive articles. And if there are any photos from a roadtrip...I can recall what the heck it was I took a photo of and why. The commentary I try as much to leave off the site, the webpage should deal with factual information as much as possible. The blog allows me to make a commentary and even question what is being reported or the actions of those involved.

Also a number of photos for South Carolina. I may try to dive back into the 1920 Trunk Routes.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Old US Route 60/70 through Hell (Chuckwall Valley Road and Ragsdale Road)

Back in 2016 I explored some of the derelict roadways of the Sonoran Desert of Riverside County which were part of US Route 60/70; Chuckwalla Valley Road and Ragsdale Road. US 60 and US 70 were not part of the original run of US Routes in California.  According to USends.com US 60 was extended into California by 1932.  US 60 doesn't appear on the California State Highway Map until the 1934 edition. USends.com on US 60 endpoints 1934 State Highway Map Conversely US 70 was extended into California by 1934, it first appears on the 1936 State Highway Map. USends.com on US 70 endpoints 1936 State Highway Map When US 60 and US 70 were extended into California they both utilized what was Legislative Route Number 64 from the Arizona State Line west to Coachella Valley.  LRN 64 was part of the 1919 Third State Highway Bond Act routes.  The original definition of LRN 64 routed between Mecca in Blythe and wasn't extended to the Arizona State Line until 1931 acc...

When was Ventura Avenue east of downtown Fresno renamed to Kings Canyon Road? (California State Route 180)

California State Route 180 was one of the original Sign State Routes designated in August 1934.  The highway east of Fresno originally utilized what was Ventura Avenue and Dunlap Road to reach what was then General Grant National Park.  By late year 1939 the highway was extended through the Kings River Canyon to Cedar Grove.   In 1940 General Grant National Park would be expanded and rebranded as Kings Canyon National Park.  The Kings Canyon Road designation first appeared in publications circa 1941 when the California State Route 180 bypass of Dunlap was completed.  Kings Canyon Road ultimately would replace the designation of Dunlap Road from Dunlap to Centerville and Ventura Avenue west to 1st Street in Fresno.   The Kings Canyon Road would remain largely intact until March 2023 when the Fresno Council designated Cesar Chavez Boulevard.  Cesar Chavez Boulevard was designated over a ten-mile corridor over what was Kings Canyon Road, remaini...

The last 1956-63 era California Sign State Route Spade?

Along southbound California State Route 170 (the Hollywood Freeway Extension) approaching the Hollywood Freeway/Ventura Freeway interchange a white California State Route 134 Sign State Route Spade can be observed on guide sign.  These white spades were specifically used during the 1956-63 era and have become increasingly rare.  This blog is intended to serve as a brief history of the Sign State Route Spade.  We also ask you as the reader, is this last 1956-63 era Sign State Route Spade or do you know of others?  Part 1; the history of the California Sign State Route Spade Prior to the Sign State Route System, the US Route System and the Auto Trails were the only highways in California signed with reassurance markers.  The creation of the US Route System by the American Association of State Highway Officials during November 1926 brought a system of standardized reassurance shields to major highways in California.  Early efforts to create a Sign State Route ...