to Pittsburgh received the transcontinental U.S. Route 30 designation, which it still bears. 1940: Pennsylvania Turnpike When the Pennsylvania Turnpike was built in the 1930s, the tiny eastern Bedford County locality made sure it would be served by the new highway. Breezewood is at the original exit 6 of the Turnpike, which opened on October 1, 1940. The new turnpike used much of the earlier South Pennsylvania Railroad project for its right-of-way, grading, and tunnels. Breezewood, with a faded sign proclaiming it the "Town of Motels" and the "Traveler's Oasis", boomed after the Pennsylvania Turnpike opened, with one gas station and the first traveler's stop, the Gateway Motel and Restaurant. Gateway remains open as of early 2022 as a truck stop affiliated with T/A, competing with other gas stations, hotels, restaurants, and a Flying J franchise. 1960s: Connecting the Turnpike with the new I-70 Over 25 years later, when Interstate 70 was built through Pennsylvania, it was co-signed with the Pennsylvania Turnpike for 86 miles, between Breezewood and New Stanton. The I-70 section of the Turnpike included tunnels under the eastern continental divide of the Allegheny Mountains and Laurel Hill, crossing some of Pennsylvania's most rugged terrain. The Laurel Hill Tunnel was later abandoned. About the same time as I-70 was built, in the early and mid-1960s, a major group of improvements was made to the original turnpike. These included roadway capacity improvement along the portion shared with I-70 at the two major mountains, where traffic had been reduced to two lanes in tunnels, and a realignment of the Breezewood exit and the turnpike to the east from there. Unusual I-70 alignment 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, the peculiar arrangement at Breezewood resulted because at the time I-70's toll-free segment was built, the state did not qualify for federal funds under the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956 to build a direct interchange, unless it agreed to cease collecting tolls on the Turnpike once the construction bonds were retired—a direct interchange would have meant that a westbound driver on I-70 could not choose between the toll route and a free alternative, but would be forced to enter the Turnpike. However, the Pennsylvania Turnpike