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Pennsylvania Turnpike
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The Pennsylvania Turnpike is a toll highway system operated by the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission in the state of Pennsylvania, United States. The turnpike system encompasses 532 miles (855 km) in three sections. Its main section, extending from the Ohio state line in the west to the New Jersey state line in the east, is 359 miles (578 km). Its Northeast Extension, extending from Plymouth Meeting in the southeast to Wilkes-Barre and Scranton in the northeast, is 110 miles (177 km).
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Encyclopedia
The Pennsylvania Turnpike is a toll highway system operated by the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission in the state of Pennsylvania, United States. The turnpike system encompasses 532 miles (855 km) in three sections. Its main section, extending from the Ohio state line in the west to the New Jersey state line in the east, is 359 miles (578 km). Its Northeast Extension, extending from Plymouth Meeting in the southeast to Wilkes-Barre and Scranton in the northeast, is 110 miles (177 km). Its various access segments in Western Pennsylvania total 62 miles (100 km).
The highway serves most of Pennsylvania's major urban areas. The main east/west section serves the Pittsburgh, Harrisburg, and Philadelphia areas, while its Northeastern Extension serves the Allentown/Bethlehem and Scranton/Wilkes-Barre areas.
This highway allows an optional way of paying called E-ZPass, in which tolls are paid electronically through a transponder attached to the car behind its rear-view mirror or attached to the front bumper.
Route numbers
Major cities
Cities that are officially-designated control cities for signs |
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- Youngstown OH (westbound)
- Pittsburgh
- Harrisburg
- Allentown
- Philadelphia
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The Pennsylvania Turnpike is part of the U.S. Interstate Highway System, and is signed with the following route numbers:
- Interstate 76. Interstate 76 comprises the majority of the system, starting at the turnpike's western terminus at the Ohio state line. Interstate 70 joins the turnpike at New Stanton, Exit 75, and runs concurrently with Interstate 76 until leaving the turnpike at Breezewood, Exit 161 (the only other tolled section of I-70 is on the Kansas Turnpike).
- Interstate 276. Interstate 76 leaves the turnpike mainline at Valley Forge/Philadelphia, Exit 326. At that point, the turnpike becomes Interstate 276 until it meets with a spur of the New Jersey Turnpike at the turnpike's eastern terminus at the Delaware River.
- Interstate 476. The Northeast Extension, which meets the turnpike mainline at milepost 333.5 (the interchange is designated as Exit-20, the milepost marker for I-476), is signed as part of Interstate 476. This section was originally signed as Pennsylvania Route 9 before redesignation in the 1990s.
- Interstate 95. The turnpike mainline now crosses Interstate 95 but does not have a direct connection to that route, although an interchange is being constructed in this area. Once the Pennsylvania Turnpike/Interstate 95 Interchange Project northeast of Philadelphia is completed, the section of the turnpike east of that interchange (now Interstate 276) will be redesignated as Interstate 95.
Toll system
The majority of the turnpike is operated as a ticket system toll road, in which a driver receives a paper ticket on entry and pays on exit, with the amount pre-calculated based on entrance and exit points. Most of the system's access points are simple "trumpet" interchanges, with a toll barrier located between the interchange and the local connector road. Between 1940 and 1997, the road had three "mainline" barrier plazas, one at Gateway (at the Pennsylvania/Ohio state line), connecting to the Ohio Turnpike, one at the Delaware River Bridge near Bristol Township, where the turnpike crosses the Delaware River and connects with the New Jersey Turnpike, and one on the Northeastern Extension at Clarks Summit, where it connects with Interstate 81 near Scranton.
In 1992, the new Mid-County interchange opened, connecting Interstate 476 with the main trunk of the Turnpike. It doubles as a mainline and interchange barrier. In 2002, the Gateway barrier was converted to an all-cash plaza. And, since January 2, 2006, only eastbound motorists are charged – westbound motorists no longer have to pay a toll (similar to the one-way tolls on the Garden State Parkway). In addition, a new mainline barrier, at Warrendale, was added. With the opening of the new Warrendale barrier, the Turnpike between Gateway and Warrendale is toll-free and gives motorists direct access to the James E. Ross Highway, Interstate 79, and two local roads. A similar approach was used between the Wyoming Valley interchange and Clarks Summit on the Northeastern Extension, allowing for the construction of the Keyser Avenue interchange, along with a new coin-drop booth north of the exit. This will also be implemented when the Turnpike/Interstate 95 exit is completed in Bristol Township allowing I-95 to access the Turnpike with a high-speed interchange.
E-ZPass is accepted in designated lanes at all toll plazas. The Virginia Drive exit near Fort Washington is accessible only to E-ZPass customers. In addition, the proposed Great Valley interchange near Malvern and the Philadelphia Park interchange near Bensalem are expected to be E-ZPass-only.
Emergency assistance
The turnpike is equipped with a call box at each mile for its entire length. Motorists may also dial *11 on their mobile phones. First responder services are available to all turnpike customers via the State Farm Safety Patrol program.
History
When the Pennsylvania Turnpike opened in 1940, it was the first long-distance rural highway in the United States and was popularly known as the "tunnel highway" because of the seven mountain tunnels along its route.
First section
The turnpike was partially constructed on an unused railroad grade constructed for the aborted South Pennsylvania Railroad project, and six of its seven original tunnels (all tunnels with the exception of the Allegheny Mountain tunnel) were first bored for that railroad. The construction began in the 1880s but was never completed. A combined total of of tunnel had been dug through seven mountains.
Proposals to use the grade and tunnels for a toll road were made starting in late 1934. The road would bypass the steep grades on Pennsylvania's existing major east-west highways – US 22 (William Penn Highway) and US 30 (Lincoln Highway) – and offer a high-speed four lane route free of cross traffic. The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission was created by law on May 21, 1937, and construction began October 27, 1938 with the removal of water from the unfinished tunnels. The roadway took 770,000 tons of sand, 1,200,000 tons of stone, 50,000 tons of steel, and more than 300,000 tons of cement to complete. It was built at a cost of $370,000 per mile.
In October 1, 1940 the first section of Turnpike opened, running from US 11 near Carlisle (southwest of Harrisburg) west to US 30 at Irwin (east of Pittsburgh). As built, the majority of the road was four lanes, but it narrowed to one lane in each direction for the seven tunnels (the South Pennsylvania had begun work on nine, but two – the Quemahoning Tunnel and Negro Mountain Tunnel – were bypassed by the Turnpike). Despite the existence of the railroad right-of-way, much of the new Turnpike was built on a new, straighter alignment, as engineering had progressed much since the days of the railroad.
Unlike earlier parkways, mostly in the New York City area, which were restricted to cars, the Turnpike allowed all traffic. Like the German Autobahn on which it was loosely based, there was no enforced speed limit on most of the road—some cars could travel at 100 mph (160 km/h) and traverse the entire 160 mile (256 km) original segment in less than two hours. The phenomenon of highway hypnosis began to afflict motorists on some of the long, straight segments—especially on the 21 mile (34 km) section of Turnpike between the Blue Mountain Tunnel and the eastern terminus at Carlisle.
Expansion
With the success of the original 160 mile (256 km) segment, the Turnpike Commission planned to expand the original turnpike to a cross-state route, connecting Philadelphia and Pittsburgh with a high-speed route. This was shelved with the onset of World War II, but with the war's end, the Turnpike Commission resumed construction.
Philadelphia Extension
The Philadelphia Extension extended the turnpike east to King of Prussia near Philadelphia and Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. The first phase of that expansion made the highway slightly longer, stretching it to US 15 near Harrisburg. That section opened on February 1, and the rest of the expansion, east to King of Prussia, opened on November 20, 1950. At that time the old mainline toll booth and interchange at Carlisle was closed, and the Middlesex interchange, at the old east end at US 11, was reconfigured and renamed as the Carlisle interchange. The original eastern end of the Philadelphia Extension ended at what is now the present-day interchange with Interstate 76 and U.S. Highway 202.
Western Extension
The first piece of the Western Extension, from Irwin to US 22 at Monroeville, east of Pittsburgh, opened August 7, 1951. The remainder opened to traffic on December 26, 1951, taking the highway west almost to the Ohio state line. Traffic was diverted onto the two-lane Burkey Road just west of the western barrier toll for almost three years until a connection with the Ohio Turnpike connection opened. The interchange with Pennsylvania Route 18 at Homewood was not completed until March 1, 1952. The turnpike connected with Youngstown, Ohio, after the first section of the Ohio Turnpike opened on December 1, 1954.
Delaware River Extension
The Delaware River Extension opened on August 23, 1954 to Pennsylvania Route 611 at Willow Grove, and the intermediate Fort Washington interchange with PA 309 opening September 20. Extensions opened October 27 to U.S. 1 near Trevose and November 17 to US 13 near Bristol Township. The final piece opened on May 23, 1956 with the completion of the Delaware River-Turnpike Toll Bridge, which connected to a short spur of the New Jersey Turnpike.
Northeast Extension
The Northeast Extension, from the Mid-County Interchange northwest of Philadelphia north to Interstate 81 near Scranton, opened in stages from November 23, 1955 to November 7, 1957. This was the last segment of the Turnpike system to be built until the late 1980s, and formerly signed as PA 9. It was later made part of I-476 (continuing that route from the Chester-to-Plymouth Meeting freeway), because no more 2-digit odd Interstate numbers were available in that part of the U.S.
Other highways
Western expansions
Western extensions, that mostly serve the Pittsburgh Area were constructed from the 1990s until the present. The James E. Ross Highway and the Amos K. Hutchinson Bypass were completed by 1994, and the James J. Manderino Highway, a West Virginia-to-Pittsburgh route, (Mon/Fayette Expressway) is approximately 50% completed with the last major link to Pittsburgh under design. The first section of the Pittsburgh Southern Beltway (from the Mon/Fayette Expressway to the Pittsburgh International Airport) has been completed and is open to traffic. Environmental Impact Statements (EIS) for the two remaining sections are in preparation
Competing highways
The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission originally proposed a statewide system of additional toll highways, but these plans were rendered unnecessary with the inception of the U.S. Interstate Highway system in 1956. A toll-free east-west competitor – Interstate 80 – opened on August 29, 1970 across northern Pennsylvania, forming a route that was more direct for New York-Chicago traffic. In 2007, however, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania leased Interstate 80 to the Turnpike Commission. Under this lease agreement, this would have allowed the Turnpike Commission to convert Interstate 80 to a toll highway.
However, on September 11, 2008, the Federal Highway Administration rejected Pennsylvania's application to toll Interstate 80.
2004 Teamsters strike
On November 24, 2004, two thousand Teamsters Union employees of the Pennsylvania Turnpike went on strike, after contract negotiations failed. This was the day before Thanksgiving, usually one of the busiest traffic days in the United States. To keep the turnpike open, tolls were waived for the remainder of the day. Starting on November 25, flat-rate passenger tolls of $2 and commercial tolls of $15 were collected from cash customers on the ticketed system by management staff of the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission. E-ZPass customers were charged the lesser of the actual toll or the same flat rates. This represented a substantial discount for many travelers, who would normally have to pay $19.75 to travel along the full length of the main east-west route in a passenger car, and between $29 and $794, depending on vehicle weight class, to cross the state in a commercial vehicle. The strike only lasted seven days, with an agreement reached on November 30. Normal toll collection resumed December 1.
The "Tunnel Highway"
After it opened as the nation's first superhighway, the Pennsylvania Turnpike was popularly known as the "Tunnel Highway". Postcards and other souvenirs promoted this name because, immediately after opening, the original stretch of the turnpike sported seven tunnels through Pennsylvania's Appalachian Mountains. These tunnels, in order of east to west, bored through Blue Mountain, Kittattiny Mountain, Tuscarora Mountain, Sideling Hill, Ray's Hill, Allegheny Mountain, and Laurel Hill.
Modernization
While the highway was built as a four-lane, limited-access highway, the seven tunnels each held only two travel lanes. Traffic was squeezed from four lanes to two at each tunnel portal, and traffic proceeded through each tunnel without being divided from oncoming traffic. By the 1960s, this situation was creating long delays at each tunnel bottleneck. To alleviate this overcrowding, the turnpike commission studied ways to either expand or bypass each tunnel.
The result of this project was the "twinning" (construction of a second, parallel, two-lane tunnel) of four tunnels, and the outright bypass and closure of the other three. The Blue, Kittattiny, Tuscarora, and Allegheny Mountain Tunnels were expanded through the construction of new tunnels identical to the original tunnels in design, construction methods (dynamite and wooden supports), and length. After the second tunnels were completed at each location, the original tunnels were temporarily closed for rehabilitations that included upgrades in forced air ventliation and lighting systems.
The Sideling Hill, Rays Hill, and Laurel Hill tunnels were closed and bypassed. The adjacent Sideling Hill and Rays Hill tunnels were replaced with one stretch of highway that climbed over those mountains, while the Laurel Hill Tunnel was bypassed with a long rock cut through the mountain. The three bypassed tunnels are still in existence.
The stretch that contained the Sideling Hill and Rays Hill Tunnels are now part of a popular tourist attraction known as the Abandoned Pennsylvania Turnpike, most of which was sold to Southern Alleghenies Conservancy in 2001. The Laurel Hill stretch, which is much shorter at about , is still owned by the PTC and trespassing is prohibited.
Lehigh Tunnel
The Northeast Extension of the Pennsylvania Turnpike contains the Lehigh Tunnel, a tunnel through Blue Mountain. The tunnel was named "Lehigh Tunnel" so as not to cause confusion with the existing Blue Mountain tunnel on the mainline. The tunnel was originally to be named for Turnpike Commission chairman Thomas J. Evans, but this was changed due to his July 25, 1967 conviction for conspiracy to defraud the Turnpike Commission of $19 million.
The Lehigh Tunnel was originally a two-lane tunnel, in the manner of the highway's original seven tunnels, until it was "twinned" in the early 1990s. The new Lehigh Tunnel is the only tunnel built by the Turnpike Commission using the New Austrian Tunnelling method. With this method, tunnels are built using a special machine resembling a large electric razor blade, guided by lasers. The tunneled area is reinforced with shotcrete, a slurry mixture, as it is bored, eliminating the need for wooden supports. Because of the new construction, the new tube, which is round, contrasts sharply with the original rectangular tube, which was carved by the older dyamite blasting method.
Allegheny Tunnel modernization
The Allegheny Mountain Tunnel, currently the longest tunnel complex on the entire Turnpike system (only the bypassed Sideling Hill Tunnel was longer), and the only one of the original seven tunnels not to have been originally bored for the aborted Southeast Pennsylvania Railroad project, is currently the most problematic tunnel for the turnpike. In 1996, the turnpike commission began a study on how to address this tunnel, which was suffering from a low traffic capacity and deterioration. The study recommended that a bypass (known as the "Brown Cut") be blasted through the adjacent mountain, but a high pricetag and opposition from landowners and environmental groups shelved this project. The commission is currently realigning the approach roads to the tunnel while examining more acceptable ways to address the capacity and age-related issues of the tunnels.
Aborted extensions and expansions
Soon after the mainline was built, the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission proposed a number of extensions as part of a 1,000 mile (1,600 km) Turnpike network. These plans were dropped in the mid-1950s in favor of the Interstate Highway System. The proposed network included the following:
Although the extensions were dropped, the commission also looked into a major expansion project in the early 1970s in which the east-west mainline would be expanded into a "dual-dual" eight-lane highway similar to that of the New Jersey Turnpike between Monroe Township (near Jamesburg) and Newark. With the dual-dual configuration, the inner two lanes would be car-only lanes while the outer lanes would be for trucks, buses, and trailers.
The dual-dual would have required major realignments, similar to that of the Sideling Hill relocation, but most of the original infrastructure would have remained intact in most places. This plan was dropped by 1976, but since 1980, most of the original plan was implemented on a smaller scale. Truck climbing lanes were built on the Allegheny Ridge and Sideling Hill, and the roadway was expanded to six lanes between the Valley Forge and Philadelphia exits. The six-lane configuration was planned or in the process of being constructed between the proposed Great Valley Slip Ramp and Norristown, between Philadelphia and the New Jersey Turnpike, and on the Northeast Extension between Mid-County and Lansdale.
Current events
Today, the Turnpike is controlled by the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission, handles over 172 million vehicles per year, and employs nearly 2,200 people.
The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission is currently reconfiguring and expanding the Turnpike to meet modern traffic needs. Parts of the original Irwin-Carlisle section are being rebuilt with new roadbeds (using the original concrete and later macadam paving), and long-duration "Superpave" macadam asphalt (similar to a process used on I-95 in Delaware between U.S. Highway 202 and the Pennsylvania State Line in 2000), new interchanges, and overpasses, the latter two being done well in advance of any major upgrade projects.
A project to expand the highway from four to six lanes between Norristown and Valley Forge is now complete, making the entire length of the turnpike between the Philadelphia and Valley Forge interchanges six lanes. The completion of the entire I-95/Turnpike exit (along with the building of the paralleling Turnpike Connector Bridge) will bring the entire Delaware River Extension to six lanes.
A similar six-lane expansion began in 2008 for the Northeast Extension, between its junction in Plymouth Meeting to the Lansdale interchange in Kulpsville; another expansion is planned on the mainline turnpike between Valley Forge and the Downingtown interchange, the westernmost of the turnpike's Philadelphia suburban interchanges. Some of the bridges between Valley Forge and Downingtown have already been widened.
Other projects include building unmanned "slip ramps" between existing interchanges. One has been built (for E-Z Pass tagholders only) near Fort Washington (Virginia Drive), and several others are planned.
On Memorial Day weekend 2005, the Pennsylvania Turnpike system became the first highway system in Pennsylvania to have a speed limit on the entire length (except for the tunnels themselves, and the winding 5.5-mile (9 km) eastern approach to the Allegheny Mountain Tunnel) of both the mainline turnpike and the Northeast Extension. This is the first time since the mandated 55 mph (88 km/h) speed limit was implemented in 1974 that a motorist can cross the entire Commonwealth of Pennsylvania at 65 mph (105 km/h) without having to travel at lower speeds for extended periods.
The PA Turnpike Commission is currently seeking approval to add Interstate 80 to the turnpike system and thus apply a toll to the highway.
Future slip ramp locations
The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission is considering several E-ZPass only slip ramps along the Pennsylvania Turnpike. These locations include PA Route 29 near milemarker 319 in East Whiteland Township, Chester County to serve the Great Valley Corporate Center near Malvern., Lafayette Street & U.S. 202 near milemarker 331 near Bridgeport and Norristown in Montgomery County, and PA Route 132 (Street Road) near milemarker 352 by the Philadelphia Park Racetrack in Bensalem Township, Bucks County. The Norristown slip ramp is intended to help revitalize the downtown area of Norristown, is expected to cost $160 million, and will call for an extension of Lafayette Street to the new interchange. Montgomery County officials have proposed a surcharge for the new exit in order to help pay for the project. The turnpike commission is also considering slip ramps near the New Stanton area as a part of the ongoing total reconstruction process going on between MP67 (IRWIN) and MP75 (New Stanton) and in Carbon County on the Northeast Extension to provide access to PA Route 903 for Poconos traffic between the Mahoning Valley (74) and Pocono (95) interchanges.
Interchange with Interstate 95 project
Interstate 95 and the Pennsylvania Turnpike now cross each other without an interchange. This is related to (but not because of) a gap in Interstate 95 in New Jersey, where local opposition groups managed to stop construction of the Somerset Freeway through the area. Earlier laws, since lifted, only allowed federal funds to be used to build connections to toll roads "to a point where such project will have some use irrespective of its use for such toll road, bridge, or tunnel", hence the lack of direct connections between the PA Turnpike and major north–south Interstates until the 1990s. Heading northbound from Pennsylvania into Ewing Township (by Trenton, New Jersey), Interstate 95 abruptly ends at its intersection with U.S. 1. From there, the highway is then signed as Interstate 295, and turns south. To continue on Interstate 95 northbound, one must travel south on Interstate 295 then east on Interstate 195 (or use a non-freeway section of U.S. 1) in order to reach the northern section of the New Jersey Turnpike, which is signed as Interstate 95.
A project is currently planned to install a high speed interchange between the two highways. In addition to the new interchange, the PTC will expand the existing four-lane road to six lanes east of the Philadelphia interchange (U.S. 1), build a new facility at milepost 353 to collect toll tickets, and convert the present Delaware River Bridge toll barrier, which currently collects tickets, to a westbound-only exact-change and high-speed E-ZPass facility. In addition, both the PTC and the New Jersey Turnpike Authority will build a twin parallel bridge over the Delaware River, with the NJTPA itself expanding the mainline Turnpike itself from its current six lanes to a dual-dual configuration like that found north of Monroe. This project will complete I-95 from Miami, Florida to Houlton, Maine. Construction is expected to start in early 2009 and will cost approximately $500 million.
Privatization
In November 2006, Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell and former Pennsylvania House Speaker John Perzel separately raised the idea of a long-term lease of the turnpike to a private group as a means of raising money to improve other infrastructure within the state, following examples of similar toll road lease arrangements in Illinois, Indiana, Texas, and Virginia. Although no plans are immediately in place, Rendell and Perzel have speculated that a lease of the system could bring anywhere from $2.5 to $30 billion to the state.
This idea faced criticism from the legislature, and instead a plan was created to lease Interstate 80 to the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission and place tolls on it to fund transportation. However, this plan faced opposition from many people in Northern Pennsylvania who feared tolls on I-80 would hurt the economy of the region, which led Rendell to revive the plan of leasing the Pennsylvania Turnpike. In October 2007, 34 companies submitted 14 proposals to leasing the turnpike. On May 19, 2008, the Spanish firm Abertis Infraestructuras, SA and Citi Infrastructure Investors of New York City submitted a record $12.8 billion proposal to lease the turnpike. It still faces approval by the state legislature.
Service plaza updates
The PTC awarded HMSHost a 30-year contract for all of the service plazas in 2006. As part of the deal, the plazas will be torn down and rebuilt from the ground up (most of them had been standing since the Turnpike opened in 1940, and had only been remodeled after Howard Johnson's left the turnpike in the 1980s), starting with the Oakmont Service Plaza near Pittsburgh, which would reopen in time for the 2007 U.S. Open Golf Championship at Oakmont Country Club. , the Oakmont, North Somerset, and Sideling Hill plazas along the mainline and the Allentown Service Plaza along the Northeast Extension have been rebuilt.
The New Stanton Service Plaza and the King of Prussia Service Plaza on the main line as well as the Hickory Run Service Plaza on the Northeast Extension are currently under construction. Before the agreement, HMSHost had the bulk of the plazas, while McDonald's had five and Arby's had the plaza at Oakmont. Sunoco remains the fuel supplier along the turnpike.
The deal led to the closing of 3 of the 21 plazas. The south Neshaminy Service Plaza near Philadelphia was closed and razed as part of the Philadelphia Park Raceway casino slip ramp project, while the Hempfield service plaza was closed due to its close proximity to the New Stanton exit and the PTC needing to widen the roadway for the exit. The Zelienople Service Plaza closed on November 15, 2008 due to lack of business. Zelienople was located on what is now the "free" stretch of the Turnpike from the Ohio state line to Cranberry Township. Motorists can easily leave and re-enter this section of the turnpike without having to travel through a toll plaza.
The westbound Denver Service Plaza was closed in the 1980s and is now home to a cold storage facility, separated from the turnpike by Jersey barriers.
Radio broadcasts
The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission broadcasts current roadway, traffic, and weather conditions via "Highway Advisory Radio" transmitters at each exit. The broadcasts are available on AM 1640 and can be heard approximately two miles away from each exit.
Exit list
Until October 25, 2000, exit numbers were numbered in sequence. On that day, mile-based exit numbers were added, and the old numbers were moved onto smaller "old exit" tabs. This was done at the same time the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) did a similar upgrade on all of the state's Interstate Highways.
For exits on the Northeast Extension, see Interstate 476.
See also
Further reading
External links
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