Shunpiking
Encyclopedia
The term shunpiking comes from the word shun, meaning "to avoid", and pike, a term referring to turnpikes
, which are roads that require payment of a toll to travel on them. People who often avoid toll roads sometimes call themselves shunpikers.
Shunpiking has also come to mean an avoidance of major highways (regardless of tolls) in preference for bucolic and scenic interludes along lightly traveled country roads.
:
, which for 86 miles runs concurrent
with Interstate 76
along the Pennsylvania Turnpike
. Westbound travelers can exit I-70 in Maryland
just south of the Pennsylvania
border and enter Interstate 68
, continuing along I-68's entire length through Western Maryland
and into West Virginia
until arriving at Interstate 79
, I-68's western terminus, in Morgantown, West Virginia
. After merging onto I-79 north, a traveler can enter Pennsylvania and merge back onto I-70 in Washington, Pennsylvania
, where I-70 and I-79 are briefly concurrent.
Despite the added mileage, the higher speed limit
in West Virginia and relatively non-congested roadways in Western Maryland (combined with the various tunnel
s and pre-Interstate
quality of the Pennsylvania Turnpike) makes the shunpiking trip quicker than the toll route. (The Pennsylvania Turnpike was grandfathered
from modern Interstate standards
.)
in eastern Virginia
, United States. After years of lower than anticipated revenues on the narrow privately-funded structure built in 1928, the Commonwealth of Virginia finally purchased the facility in 1949. However, rather than announcing a long-expected decrease in tolls, the state officials increased the rates in 1955 without visibly improving the roadway, with the notable exception of building a new toll plaza.
The increased toll rates incensed the public and business users alike. In a well-publicized example of shunpiking, Joseph W. Luter Jr., head of Smithfield Packing Company
(the producer of Smithfield Hams
), ordered his truck drivers to take different routes and cross smaller and cheaper bridges. Despite the boycott by Luter and others, tolls continued for 20 more years. They were finally removed from the old bridge in 1975 when construction began on a toll-free replacement structure.
doubled the tolls in one direction (England to Wales) and made the other direction free of charge, presumably to save on staff costs. As a result, many lorry
drivers now use the Severn Bridge in the free direction, but when travelling from England to Wales, cross the Severn at Gloucester
, where there is no charge, and then drive through the Forest of Dean
.
The M6 Toll became the first Motorway in Britain to charge drivers. Many drivers avoid the toll by staying on the M6 - which is actually shorter than the toll road. There has been underhanded practices by the toll company, as to stay on the M6 (M6-M6-M6) you must exit via sliproads that have misleading signposts, whereas you can simply continue straight on to take the new road (M6-M6T-M6).
stories.
Toll road
A toll road is a privately or publicly built road for which a driver pays a toll for use. Structures for which tolls are charged include toll bridges and toll tunnels. Non-toll roads are financed using other sources of revenue, most typically fuel tax or general tax funds...
, which are roads that require payment of a toll to travel on them. People who often avoid toll roads sometimes call themselves shunpikers.
Shunpiking has also come to mean an avoidance of major highways (regardless of tolls) in preference for bucolic and scenic interludes along lightly traveled country roads.
Word origin
The word "shunpike" may have its origins in post-colonial New HampshireNew Hampshire
New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...
:
When the "Turnpike" was built around 1810 or so, by the Hampton Causeway Turnpike Corporation, in Hampton Falls, NH, a toll was charged to cross it at Taylor's River.
- Not content with the payment of a toll, some of the residents got together and built a slight bridge called the "Shunpike" across the Taylor's River, some distance west of the Turnpike bridge, where travelers and teamster
TeamsterA teamster, in modern American English, is a truck driver. The trade union named after them is the International Brotherhood of Teamsters , one of the largest unions in the United States....
s could cross without charge. This continued on until April 12, 1826, when the toll on the Turnpike was discontinued and has remained a free road to this day.
- John Holman, Hampton History Volunteer, New Hampshire Library
Pennsylvania Turnpike example
Some methods of shunpiking may be quicker than taking toll roads. Perhaps the best-known example is long-distance through traffic for Interstate 70Interstate 70
Interstate 70 is an Interstate Highway in the United States that runs from Interstate 15 near Cove Fort, Utah, to a Park and Ride near Baltimore, Maryland. It was the first Interstate Highway project in the United States. I-70 approximately traces the path of U.S. Route 40 east of the Rocky...
, which for 86 miles runs concurrent
Concurrency (road)
A concurrency, overlap, or coincidence in a road network is an instance of one physical road bearing two or more different highway, motorway, or other route numbers...
with Interstate 76
Interstate 76 (east)
Interstate 76 is an Interstate Highway in the United States, running 435 miles from an interchange with Interstate 71 west of Akron, Ohio, east to Interstate 295 near Camden, New Jersey....
along the Pennsylvania Turnpike
Pennsylvania Turnpike
The Pennsylvania Turnpike is a toll highway system operated by the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States. The three sections of the turnpike system total . The main section extends from Ohio to New Jersey and is long...
. Westbound travelers can exit I-70 in Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
just south of the Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
border and enter Interstate 68
Interstate 68
Interstate 68 is a Interstate highway in the U.S. states of West Virginia and Maryland, connecting in Morgantown to in Hancock. is also Corridor E of the Appalachian Development Highway System. From 1965 until the freeway's construction was completed in 1991, it was designated as...
, continuing along I-68's entire length through Western Maryland
Western Maryland
Western Maryland is the portion of the U.S. state of Maryland that consists of Frederick, Washington, Allegany, and Garrett counties. The region is bounded by the Mason-Dixon line to the north, Preston County, West Virginia to the west, and the Potomac River to the south. There is dispute over the...
and into West Virginia
West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...
until arriving at Interstate 79
Interstate 79
Interstate 79 is an Interstate Highway in the eastern United States, designated from Interstate 77 in Charleston, West Virginia to Pennsylvania Route 5 and Pennsylvania Route 290 in Erie, Pennsylvania...
, I-68's western terminus, in Morgantown, West Virginia
Morgantown, West Virginia
Morgantown is a city in Monongalia County, West Virginia. It is the county seat of Monongalia County. Placed along the banks of the Monongahela River, Morgantown is the largest city in North-Central West Virginia, and the base of the Morgantown metropolitan area...
. After merging onto I-79 north, a traveler can enter Pennsylvania and merge back onto I-70 in Washington, Pennsylvania
Washington, Pennsylvania
Washington is a city in and the county seat of Washington County, Pennsylvania, United States, within the Pittsburgh Metro Area in the southwestern part of the state...
, where I-70 and I-79 are briefly concurrent.
Despite the added mileage, the higher speed limit
Speed limit
Road speed limits are used in most countries to regulate the speed of road vehicles. Speed limits may define maximum , minimum or no speed limit and are normally indicated using a traffic sign...
in West Virginia and relatively non-congested roadways in Western Maryland (combined with the various tunnel
Tunnel
A tunnel is an underground passageway, completely enclosed except for openings for egress, commonly at each end.A tunnel may be for foot or vehicular road traffic, for rail traffic, or for a canal. Some tunnels are aqueducts to supply water for consumption or for hydroelectric stations or are sewers...
s and pre-Interstate
Interstate Highway System
The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, , is a network of limited-access roads including freeways, highways, and expressways forming part of the National Highway System of the United States of America...
quality of the Pennsylvania Turnpike) makes the shunpiking trip quicker than the toll route. (The Pennsylvania Turnpike was grandfathered
Grandfather clause
Grandfather clause is a legal term used to describe a situation in which an old rule continues to apply to some existing situations, while a new rule will apply to all future situations. It is often used as a verb: to grandfather means to grant such an exemption...
from modern Interstate standards
Interstate Highway standards
Standards for Interstate Highways in the United States are defined by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials in the publication A Policy on Design Standards - Interstate System...
.)
Historical boycott in Virginia
One such example of shunpiking as a form of boycott occurred at the James River BridgeJames River Bridge
The James River Bridge is a four-lane divided highway lift bridge across the James River in the U.S. state of Virginia. Owned and operated by the Virginia Department of Transportation, it carries U.S. Route 17, U.S. Route 258, and State Route 32 across the river near its mouth at Hampton Roads...
in eastern Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
, United States. After years of lower than anticipated revenues on the narrow privately-funded structure built in 1928, the Commonwealth of Virginia finally purchased the facility in 1949. However, rather than announcing a long-expected decrease in tolls, the state officials increased the rates in 1955 without visibly improving the roadway, with the notable exception of building a new toll plaza.
The increased toll rates incensed the public and business users alike. In a well-publicized example of shunpiking, Joseph W. Luter Jr., head of Smithfield Packing Company
Smithfield Packing Company
Smithfield Packing Company was founded in 1936 by Joseph W. Luter and his son Joseph W. Luter, Jr., in the Town of Smithfield along the Pagan River, a tributary of the James River in Isle of Wight County, Virginia, USA, to produce Smithfield hams...
(the producer of Smithfield Hams
Smithfield ham
Smithfield ham is a specific form of the country ham, a product which originated in the town of Smithfield in Isle of Wight County in the Hampton Roads region of Virginia, USA.-Legal definition:...
), ordered his truck drivers to take different routes and cross smaller and cheaper bridges. Despite the boycott by Luter and others, tolls continued for 20 more years. They were finally removed from the old bridge in 1975 when construction began on a toll-free replacement structure.
Examples in Britain
In the early 1990s, the management of the Severn BridgeSevern Bridge
The Severn Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the River Severn between South Gloucestershire, just north of Bristol, England, and Monmouthshire in South Wales, via Beachley, a peninsula between the River Severn and River Wye estuary. It is the original Severn road crossing between England and...
doubled the tolls in one direction (England to Wales) and made the other direction free of charge, presumably to save on staff costs. As a result, many lorry
Lorry
-Transport:* Lorry or truck, a large motor vehicle* Lorry, or a Mine car in USA: an open gondola with a tipping trough* Lorry , a horse-drawn low-loading trolley-In fiction:...
drivers now use the Severn Bridge in the free direction, but when travelling from England to Wales, cross the Severn at Gloucester
Gloucester
Gloucester is a city, district and county town of Gloucestershire in the South West region of England. Gloucester lies close to the Welsh border, and on the River Severn, approximately north-east of Bristol, and south-southwest of Birmingham....
, where there is no charge, and then drive through the Forest of Dean
Forest of Dean
The Forest of Dean is a geographical, historical and cultural region in the western part of the county of Gloucestershire, England. The forest is a roughly triangular plateau bounded by the River Wye to the west and north, the River Severn to the south, and the City of Gloucester to the east.The...
.
The M6 Toll became the first Motorway in Britain to charge drivers. Many drivers avoid the toll by staying on the M6 - which is actually shorter than the toll road. There has been underhanded practices by the toll company, as to stay on the M6 (M6-M6-M6) you must exit via sliproads that have misleading signposts, whereas you can simply continue straight on to take the new road (M6-M6T-M6).
In popular culture
The term "shunpiking" inspired the character name Stan Shunpike in the Harry PotterHarry Potter
Harry Potter is a series of seven fantasy novels written by the British author J. K. Rowling. The books chronicle the adventures of the adolescent wizard Harry Potter and his best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, all of whom are students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry...
stories.
Further reading
- Exton, Peter. A shunpiker's guide to the Northeast : Washington to Boston without turnpikes or interstates / Peter Exton. McLean, Va. : EPM Publications, c1988. 159 p. : ill. ; 22 cm. ISBN 0-939009-10-2