In 1940, drivers lined up for hours to be the first to drive on the Pennsylvania Turnpike , which opened at midnight on Oct. 1, 1940.

Journalists at the time called the Turnpike a “dream highway” and “super highway,” according to an article by Curtis Miner, senior history curator at The State Museum of Pennsylvania.

The toll at the time was one penny a mile.

The original section of the Turnpike covered 160 miles from Irwin in Westmoreland County to Carlisle in Cumberland County. Today the Turnpike extends to 565 miles.

According to the Turnpike Commission, more than 500,000 people use the roadway daily.

Governor George Earle signed the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission into law in July 1937.

The following year, the Roosevelt administration agreed to finance the project to create a

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