# I Pit the pit that is Breezewood PA **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 3, 2010, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-pit-that-is-breezewood-pa/559307 "2010-11-03T05:58:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-pit-that-is-breezewood-pa/559307/1 "2010-11-03T05:58:16Z")
Can someone get me 500 feet of highway ramp? Cause then we can send Godzilla in to toddle around Breezewood and make it not exist anymore. I can’t believe such a boondoggle still exists. I have this mental picture of generations of Breezewood hotel owners delivering payola to generations of PA elected officials and Federal highway bigshots. And it almost has to be true – there must have been massive corruption over many years to prop that hellhole up. Has anybody look there for Jimmy Hoffa? ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-pit-that-is-breezewood-pa/559307/2 "2010-11-03T06:06:58Z")
Yeah, fuck that place. ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-pit-that-is-breezewood-pa/559307/3 "2010-11-03T07:56:17Z")
Why I believe the OP is pitting [Breezewood, PA](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breezewood,_Pennsylvania): > [@](#): > > 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 from a combination of rules which made the substantial additional costs of a direct link unacceptable to the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission at the time I-70 was built.[5] > > Although laws have been relaxed since then, local businesses, including many traveler services like fast food restaurants, gas stations and motels, have lobbied to keep the gap and not directly connect I-70 to the Turnpike, fearing a loss of business. This short stretch is one of only two locations in the U.S. where there are traffic lights on a two-digit Interstate Highway. I’d have more sympathy for the OP if I didn’t feel that the Pennsylvania Turnpike is a bucket-o-suck, anyways. ---
**Author:** ![MegaBee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f0a364/32.png) [@MegaBee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MegaBee)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-pit-that-is-breezewood-pa/559307/4 "2010-11-03T11:36:42Z")
I fuel up and food up at Breezewood any time I’m venturing to Maryland, DC, Virginia, and other points south. I can’t back this pitting. ---
**Author:** ![Ruby\_Slippers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/94ad74/32.png) [@Ruby\_Slippers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruby_Slippers)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-pit-that-is-breezewood-pa/559307/5 "2010-11-03T12:01:41Z")
For those traveling between DC/Maryland/Virginia and Ohio and points west, there’s a decent alternative – I-68. It’s been around for quite a few years now, traveling mostly through Maryland rather than Pennsylvania. Best of all, it’s FREE. No tolls. Also no tunnels, for those of you who may get a touch claustrophobic. Once I discovered that route, the Pennsylvania Turnpike was history for me. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-pit-that-is-breezewood-pa/559307/6 "2010-11-03T12:50:53Z")
> [@MegaBee](#): > > I can’t back this pitting. I can. Stopping in Breezewood should be optional, just like at other expressway junctions. Not mandatory, thanks to the interconnection being loaded down by stoplights. My daughter and I once stayed overnight there. We made the mistake of trying to walk from our motel to a restaurant across the street. The place is **NOT** pedestrian friendly. We survived, but it was a tough challenge. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-pit-that-is-breezewood-pa/559307/7 "2010-11-03T12:53:36Z")
> [@](#): > > 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 from a combination of rules which made the substantial additional costs of a direct link unacceptable to the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission at the time I-70 was built.[5] > > Although laws have been relaxed since then, local businesses, including many traveler services like fast food restaurants, gas stations and motels, have lobbied to keep the gap and not directly connect I-70 to the Turnpike, fearing a loss of business. This short stretch is one of only two locations in the U.S. where there are traffic lights on a two-digit Interstate Highway. There’s a similar thing in Carlisle, PA; I-81 crosses over I-76, but the only way to get from one to the other is a half-mile of surface road. I used to work along that half-mile. The scuttlebutt was that the guy who owned the huge truck stop across the street had enough local clout to prevent an interchange from being built, guaranteeing all the truck traffic would come right by his business. (The place I worked was a software company, so it had nothing to do with highway access or passing motorists. Our lives would have been a lot easier with less traffic.) ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-pit-that-is-breezewood-pa/559307/8 "2010-11-03T12:57:28Z")
I approve this pitting. Breezewood sucks. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-pit-that-is-breezewood-pa/559307/9 "2010-11-03T13:11:21Z")
> [@Ruby\_Slippers](#): > > For those traveling between DC/Maryland/Virginia and Ohio and points west, there’s a decent alternative – I-68. It’s been around for quite a few years now, traveling mostly through Maryland rather than Pennsylvania. Best of all, it’s FREE. No tolls. Also no tunnels, for those of you who may get a touch claustrophobic. Once I discovered that route, the Pennsylvania Turnpike was history for me. Yup. I live in perhaps the most south easterly corner of Indiana (essentially right on the border of both Ohio and Kentucky) and when my folks used to live in Rockville, MD that’s the way I always went. Fuck the Turnpike. And IIRC they clung to that 55mph speed limit when everyone else was bumping theirs up to 65mph, although that may have changed by now. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-pit-that-is-breezewood-pa/559307/10 "2010-11-03T13:37:51Z")
I have plans to head up there sometime to bike the 13 miles of [Abandoned Pennsylvania Turnpike](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abandoned_Pennsylvania_Turnpike). I just need to find someone to team up with, as this isn’t an activity to tackle solo. You really are in the middle of nowhere when bicycling this road - it is no longer maintained and goes through two unlit tunnels. It isn’t an official bike trail yet, though the road bed is in decent shape and thousands of bicyclists use it every year. Any takers? ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-pit-that-is-breezewood-pa/559307/11 "2010-11-03T13:40:12Z")
I call this pitting and raise it to the entire Pennsylvania Turnpike. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-pit-that-is-breezewood-pa/559307/12 "2010-11-03T13:54:44Z")
> [@Mr.Moto](#): > > I have plans to head up there sometime to bike the 13 miles of [Abandoned Pennsylvania Turnpike](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abandoned_Pennsylvania_Turnpike). I just need to find someone to team up with, as this isn’t an activity to tackle solo. If I still lived in Harrisburg, I’d be right there with you, but Boston is another matter. I’m thinking of doing the Five Boro Bike Tour in NYC this coming spring (may put out a call to see if any dopers want to join me), but that’d be the only time I’d be remotely close to PA with my bike. ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-pit-that-is-breezewood-pa/559307/13 "2010-11-03T14:19:15Z")
> [@Ruby\_Slippers](#): > > For those traveling between DC/Maryland/Virginia and Ohio and points west, there’s a decent alternative – I-68. It’s been around for quite a few years now, traveling mostly through Maryland rather than Pennsylvania. Best of all, it’s FREE. No tolls. Also no tunnels, for those of you who may get a touch claustrophobic. Once I discovered that route, the Pennsylvania Turnpike was history for me. Oh, there’s a toll all right- a toll on your gas mileage. Sure, there’s no tunnels, but that just means you have to go VROOOOOOOM up the mountain and then BRAAAAAAAKE down the other side. No thanks. I’ll save my half hour of time, my 3 gallons of gas, and my brake pads and spend the $8 it takes to get from DC to Pittsburgh. With that said, let me tell you a little story about Breezewood. One night, after drill, the guys in my unit convince me to go to the bar instead of heading home to DC. So I go with them and I don’t get on the road home til 3 am. By the time I get to Breezewood, it’s 4 a.m. So I stop in the diner there and chat up the waitress. We talk about everything until about 7 a.m. Then we go hop in her Camaro and she takes me around Breezewood’s unofficial drag strips while she smokes a J. I’ve been up all night partying and now I’m driving around an unknown town with a hot woman in a fast car. Thank you, Breezewood. Thank you. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-pit-that-is-breezewood-pa/559307/14 "2010-11-03T14:46:35Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > My daughter and I once stayed overnight there. I slept in a motel in Breezewood about ten years ago when a blizzard made it impossible to continue my DC to Pittsburgh drive. I get itchy just thinking about it. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-pit-that-is-breezewood-pa/559307/15 "2010-11-03T15:09:48Z")
God. Breezewood gives me hives. Breezewood plus road construction is one of the circles of Hell. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-pit-that-is-breezewood-pa/559307/16 "2010-11-03T15:46:40Z")
> [@Ruby\_Slippers](#): > > For those traveling between DC/Maryland/Virginia and Ohio and points west, there’s a decent alternative – I-68. It’s been around for quite a few years now, traveling mostly through Maryland rather than Pennsylvania. Best of all, it’s FREE. No tolls. Also no tunnels, for those of you who may get a touch claustrophobic. Once I discovered that route, the Pennsylvania Turnpike was history for me. > [@Chessic\_Sense](#): > > Oh, there’s a toll all right- a toll on your gas mileage. Sure, there’s no tunnels, but that just means you have to go VROOOOOOOM up the mountain and then BRAAAAAAAKE down the other side. No thanks. I’ll save my half hour of time, my 3 gallons of gas, and my brake pads and spend the $8 it takes to get from DC to Pittsburgh. Another option is US 30, which is being widened into a 4-lane divided highway with Interstate-quality bypasses in certain areas. ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-pit-that-is-breezewood-pa/559307/17 "2010-11-03T15:57:06Z")
Wow. I think I remember going through there about a decade ago and thinking, “WTF?” Now I know. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-pit-that-is-breezewood-pa/559307/18 "2010-11-03T16:05:14Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > I slept in a motel in Breezewood about ten years ago when a blizzard made it impossible to continue my DC to Pittsburgh drive. I get itchy just thinking about it. I got you beat there. My fiancee used to work in Breezewood for several years. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-pit-that-is-breezewood-pa/559307/19 "2010-11-03T16:05:30Z")
> [@Ogre](#): > > Wow. I think I remember going through there about a decade ago and thinking, “WTF?” > > Now I know. Yes, I believe more Americans have been forcibly transported through Breezewood than through their mothers’ womb. ---
**Author:** ![Scuba\_Ben](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/278dde/32.png) [@Scuba\_Ben](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scuba_Ben)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-pit-that-is-breezewood-pa/559307/20 "2010-11-03T17:08:14Z")
> [@Sigmagirl](#): > > I call this pitting and raise it to the entire Pennsylvania Turnpike. You’ve got a point. Maybe we should just pit the original survey team. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-pit-that-is-breezewood-pa/559307.md?page=2)