The Call of the Road

On the Pennsylvania Turnpike, motorists can drive 160 miles without shifting gears. From 15 miles east of Pittsburgh to the outskirts of Harrisburg, the four-lane super-highway has no intersections, grade crossings, pedestrians, stoplights, or fixed speed limit (except in its 6.7 miles of tunnels). Going through instead of over the rugged Alleghenies, it has no miles of straightaway, no grade steeper than 3%, no curve requiring a reduction in speed.

To lengthen "America's greatest highway," Wall Street last week made the biggest revenue bond offering in its history. Headed by Drexel & Co., B. J. Van Ingen & Co. Inc., Blyth & Co.; Inc. and the First Boston Corp., a syndicate of 217 dealers began marketing a Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission issue totaling $134 million. A third of the amount will refund the commission's present bonds. The rest will pay for extending the turnpike 100 miles eastward to King of Prussia, just outside Philadelphia.

The turnpike issue got off fast. Insurance companies and other institutional investors signed up for nearly $60 million the first day; after 24 hours, there was only about $15 million still to be sold. The reasons were plain. On tolls ranging from $1 and $1.50 for motorcycles and cars to $10 for heavy trailer trucks, the eight-year-old highway has shown a handsome profit every year. All during wartime gas rationing, the commission managed to keep the annual net above the million mark by promoting the turnpike's time-saving advantage (more than three hours on the Pittsburgh-Philadelphia run) for trucks. Last year, with some 3,000,000 vehicles passing over it, the highway cleared nearly $4,000,000.

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