Skip to main content

Interstate 70 at Kammerer Construction Photos

Image
By
A few weeks ago in response to my post about the early construction of Interstate 70 in Southwestern Pennsylvania, I received a handful of photos from Randy Metz of the construction of the highway at the Kammerer exit which is now Exit 31.  These photos which date from the mid-1950s show the conversion of an at-grade intersection of then Alternate PA 71 and McIlvanie Road to an interchange. 

Alternate PA 71 was known as the "Express Highway" that gave Mid-Mon Valley towns a direct link to the Pennsylvania Turnpike in New Stanton.  This highway would be added to the Interstate Highway System as Interstate 70S in 1960 and changed to Interstate 70 in 1964.  When the four-lane highway was originally built, it was built as a mix of interchanges and at-grade intersections.  These intersections were either replaced with overpasses or slowly converted to interchanges in the late 1950s.

Mr. Metz's family still resides and operates a farm nearby.  He was kind enough to share these photos that show the early history of one of Western Pennsylvania's busiest highways.

Image courtesy Randy Metz
This photo shows the construction of the overpass that carries McIlvanie Road over the highway.  What is now Exit 31 on Interstate 70 is just beginning to take place.  The Carlton Motel was already in business and was served via a driveway that was at grade with the highway.  It also appears that Alternate 71 ended here temporarily.

The Carlton Motel was built by the Carl family and opened in 1953 and would expand from seven to 25 rooms by 1960. (1)

Image courtesy Randy Metz
The large tree in this photo was removed to make way for what would be the offramp from westbound I-70.  That again is the Carlton Motel in the background.  After the interchange was built, the motel's driveway in the first photo was moved to the westbound offramp.  When the motel added a restaurant in 1960,  the odd driveway off the exit ramp was removed.

Image courtesy Randy Metz
The color photo show some of the various dump trucks that were used in the highway's construction.  As a result of building the new highway, the Metz Family farm would be spilt in two as the state needed 26 acres of their property for the right of way.   The family did get a 7' x 7' tunnel under the highway connecting the split properties and allowing cattle and tractors to go from one side of the Interstate to the other.

cardcow.com
This old postcard shows the Carlton Motel and Restaurant along with Interstate 70 sometime in the 1960s.  This shows how substandard the Interstate highway was 50 years ago.  The center median was a 6-inch wide x 4-inch high raised curb.  In addition, it appears that the outside shoulders were not paved. 

Site Navigation:
Labels:

Comments

Malibu72 said…
A "turnpike" design, largely modeled after the first turnpike, the 1940 Pennsylvania, later I-76. These substandard roads, state of the art for their time, were grandfathered into the Interstate System. Worst features were the narrow median and lack of consistent shoulders, as well as abrupt on and off ramps, where stop signs were sometimes utilized.
12:18 PM
Anonymous said…
They just razed the former Cartlon motel building about a year or so ago. Last time I was thru the restaurant is still standing but the actual restaurant has ceased operations at that site and is now located in nearby downtown Bentleyville.
7:29 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Bleriot Ferry - Alberta

By
  Alberta operates six ferries scattered throughout the province. Roughly twenty to twenty-five kilometers up the Red Deer River from the town of Drumheller is one of the most scenic ferry crossings in all of Wild Rose Country, the Bleriot Ferry. Using the North Dinosaur Trail (Alberta Highway 838, or AB 838), the Bleriot Ferry provides a scenic river cruise of sorts in the Canadian Badlands. The Bleriot Ferry started operating in 1913 as the Munson Ferry when a few bridges crossed the Red Deer River. The ferry was started by Andre Bleriot, the brother of famed early aviator Louis Bleriot, who became famous for being the first person to fly over the English Channel. At the time, the Alberta provincial government commissioned local residents to run the ferries. There were several ferries along the Red Deer River, and not only did they serve as vital transportation links, but they also served as local social hubs, since everyone had to take the ferries to go places. Over time, as the...
Post a Comment
Read more

Interstate 40's Tumultuous Ride Through the Pigeon River Gorge

By
In the nearly 60 years Interstate 40 has been open to traffic through the Pigeon River Gorge in the mountains of Western North Carolina, it has been troubled by frequent rockslides and damaging flooding, which has seen the over 30-mile stretch through North Carolina and Tennessee closed for months at a time. Most recently, excessive rainfall from Hurricane Helene in September 2024 saw sections of Interstate 40 wash away into a raging Pigeon River. While the physical troubles of Interstate 40 are well known, how I-40 came to be through the area is a tale of its own. Interstate 40 West through Haywood County near mile marker 10. I-40's route through the Pigeon River Gorge dates to local political squabbles in the 1940s and a state highway law written in 1921. A small note appeared in the July 28, 1945, Asheville Times. It read that the North Carolina State Highway Commission had authorized a feasibility study of a "...water-level road down [the] Pigeon River to the Tennessee l...
4 comments
Read more

I-73/I-74 and NC Future Interstates Year in Review 2024

By
Welcome to another annual review of progress in constructing North Carolina's New and Future Interstate routes. While 2024 was not too exciting, with no new segments of major routes opening, there was 1 new interstate signing, another proposed new interstate route, and the near opening of a new segment for 2 routes. As tradition, I will start off with a review of what happened with I-73 and I-74 and then move on to the major news of the year about the other new and future routes. Work continued on the I-73/I-74 Rockingham Bypass through the year. The last few months have been hoping for news of its opening before 2025, without luck. Signs of its near completion included the placement of new signs, many with interstate shields uncovered, along the Bypass and intersecting roadways. For example, these went up along US 74 East: Overhead signage at Business 74 exit which contains the future ramp to I-73 North/I-74 West. Signage was also updated heading west on US 74 approaching the unop...
Post a Comment
Read more