A traffic jam on the Pennsylvania Turnpike

[giza]

Earlier today, I returned home from my parents' place in Allentown. Normally, I take the train up, and they drive me back.

That turned out to be not such a hot idea today, as evidenced by this picture:



Yes, I was standing in the middle of the road when I took that picture. Seems that there was an accident south of Lansdale which took out both lanes, and traffic could only get by on the shoulder, leading to a 10+ mile traffic jam.

Could have been worse, I suppose. The weather was nice, and we didn't have any road rage to deal with. The total wait was only about an hour.

This was the view looking forward:



The read of the pics are at http://www.flickr.com/photos/dmuth/sets/72157623081612348/.

Comments

[orionvw.livejournal.com]

Turnpike was clear this end of the state, but where is your snow? We still have over six inches on the ground in parts of Maryland..

[giza.livejournal.com]

We had torrential rain on Christmas Day. Pretty much melted away the snow.

[orionvw.livejournal.com]

Ah, Christmas was an ice storm here...

[benzene6.livejournal.com]

The PA turnpike is usually backed up when my mom and my grandma always go on it by the Valley Forge Exit when they go to Atlantic City or Philly to go to The Parx.

[delphanaeous.livejournal.com]

This is one of the bigger reasons I won't travel the Turnpike, especially the NE Extension in winter...

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/02/16/national/main2484658.shtml

There are NO emergency access/escape routes, and far too much distance between exits.

[giza.livejournal.com]

Say what?

- I was stack in traffic for ONE hour. That's a far cry from 24 hours. In fact, I've driven on the Turnpike for a fair bit (even commuted on it for a few months), and that's the worst delay I ever encountered. I wish the Schulkyll Expressway had that good of a record.

- I read that article you linked to. Where exactly does it say the PA Turnpike was involved? I see mention of I-78, 80, and 81. Where does it say the Turnpike was involved? The only reference I see to it is that tolls were waived. (Remember, the Turnpike is I-476, I-76 west of Philly, and I-276 east of Philly)

- I'm sorry, but your comment that there are no escape/service routes from the Turnpike is simply not true. I can count several when I drive from Allentown to Philly, and here's one that I snapped a picture of yesterday:

(http://www.flickr.com/photos/dmuth/4220097130/)

See that thing to the right with the horizontal red and white stripe? That's an access gate which connects to local roads. I'm sure if the local authorities felt that letting traffic off of the Turnpike was a good idea, they'd have done so.

[music4fun.livejournal.com]

This event happened to the west of me on I78. It is a hilly, treacherous piece of roadway even when dry. The storm accelerated the poor conditions too quickly and it only takes one stalled vehicle in that section to hold up everything. The same goes with I80 and I81. There are sections there I don't even like to drive in the daytime. The free tolls were allowed for the
turnpike to help alleviate the blockages, a bonus for the western and southern parts of the turnpike not affected by this weather.

[skirtandzy.livejournal.com]

I recognize exactly where you are...
During this past summer, we were stuck in traffic after a bad accident around the same area.

[jessypie.livejournal.com]

When you say you take the train up, do you mean to Lansdale? Or do you know some way I don't for getting closer to Allentown on public transit? I really wish there were actually a train that went between Philly and Allentown.

[giza.livejournal.com]

Yep, I took the train to Lansdale.

Bonus: there's a bar right across the street from the train station where I've been known to kill time while waiting for my ride. :-)