The Concrete Canal

Governor Thomas E. Dewey last week formally opened the first section of what will be the longest, best-planned and most remarkable toll road in America, the New York Thruway. At a banquet in Rochester, Dewey pressed a button that opened turnpike exchanges on the 115-mile stretch from West Henrietta, near Rochester, to Lowell, near Utica. For New York, the Thruway may be the most important achievement of its kind since De Witt Clinton in 1825 opened the Erie Canal and gave the state the jump on its neighbors. The aorta of commerce, the canal made the state great. In its first year of operation, the canal carried 40,000 westering Americans to the frontier, shuttled the products of the West back to New York harbor. It cut the cost of transporting a barrel of flour from Buffalo to New York from $10 to 30-c-; for years its tolls paid all state expenses. Is the Thruway a concrete Erie Canal? Not quite--but almost.

Good-Sense Planning. Most of the 427-mile superhighway will not be finished until December, and the last 30-mile approach to New York City will not be ready until next year, but already real-estate prices, retail business, industry and construction are booming along the right of way. International Business Machines, Carrier Corp., branches of General Motors, Ford, Allied Chemical and dozens of other industries are digging in on the Thruway route.

What makes the Thruway remarkable is not its length but its good-sense planning. Following the historic route from New York up the Hudson to Albany, then west through the Mohawk Valley to Buffalo, it passes within 20 miles of 85% of the state's 15 million residents. Spurs to the Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Jersey turnpikes, Garden State Parkway, the Pennsylvania state line and Niagara Falls will add 137 miles and make it the best integrated of all toll roads. The spurs and a smoothly planned system of interchanges will also help overcome the vexing problems of entry and exit that have plagued other turnpikes (the late Ernie Pyle once wrote: "For what shall it profit a man if he gain two hours in 160 miles and then lose his soul getting into Pittsburgh?").

Fish Are Jumping. The New York Thruway Authority is doing what it can to make sure the big road is also the best run and most handsome of American turnpikes. It has authorized 27 rest and dining stations along the way, and will regulate them with an iron hand. Sample rules: a cup of coffee will mean exactly seven ounces and will cost 10-c- a frankfurter must weigh at least one-ninth of a pound and be served with a choice of relish and mustard; authorized repair garages must provide "comfortable accommodations" for stranded drivers to wait while mechanics tinker with their cars.

One Thruway feature is unique: a stream full of plump trout, which runs down the center mall near Manchester.

The cost of the Thruway is imposing: an estimated $962 million--or about $1,600,000 a mile--mostly financed by bond issues. But by 1960 New York expects to be collecting $36,560,000 in tolls a year from an estimated 70 to 90 million cars. The main attraction is neither trout nor scenery but the simple fact that a motorist staying within the 60-m.p.h.

speed limit will be able to save more than four hours--half a driving day--between Manhattan and Buffalo.

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