BEREA, Ohio - A high school band played and transportation officials waxed nostalgic Wednesday, marking the 70th anniversary of Ohio’s first super highway - the Ohio Turnpike.

“It was a dramatic moment in state and U.S. History,” Turnpike Commission Chairman Jerry Hruby told a couple hundred people gathered outside the roadway’s headquarters, harkening back to Oct. 1, 1955.

It was just after midnight on that date, during grand ceremonies along the Ohio-Indiana border, that Ohio Gov. Frank Lausche raised his hands and gave the order: “Remove all barricades! Open the gates and let the traffic flow!”

With that command, the Ohio Turnpike came to life. Cars and trucks rolled eastward from the Indiana border, headlights cutting through the night. For the first time, motorists could cross the

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