THE PENNSYLVANIA TURNPIKE IN 1942 | PHOTO BY ARTHUR ROTHSTEIN, VIA LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

I spotted some bad news buried in a conversation about forthcoming updates to the Pennsylvania Turnpike.

Adam Babetski of the Post-Gazette had a chat with Richard Dreher, CFO of the Pennsylvania Turnpike. The big questions, obviously, concerned tolls and construction projects — the most visible ways Pennsylvanians interact with the sprawling toll road.

At the end of the conversation, however, the subject turned to tiny Breezewood. The sparsely populated town in Bedford County — technically unincorporated, as it is officially part of East Providence Township — is nevertheless instantly recognizable to travelers for the riot of businesses that crowd around a few blocks of U.S. Route 30.

Sitting at the junction of the Pennsylvania Turnpike and Interstate 70, Breezewood remains one of the only places in the entire Interstate Highway System where the road suddenly becomes … well, not a typical interstate anymore. For hundreds of miles in either direction, there are concrete barriers, billboards and uninterrupted highway; for a tiny sliver of Breezewood, there are gas stations, kitschy tourist gift shops and innumerable chain restaurants.

Now, the geographic curiosity once dubbed the Town of Motels may go extinct. Already endangered by changing traveler habits, Dreher told the Post-Gazette that an upcoming project will more directly connect the highways and “eliminat[e] that mile or so connection with local roadways.”

As a lover of road-trip nostalgia and all manner of curiosities, I find this deeply depressing. The best way to engage with a day spent in the car is to stop as frequently as is reasonable, discovering oddities and visiting remote locations along the way. Why spend five or six hours in the car staring at nothing but asphalt when you can spend seven or eight exploring places you might otherwise never visit?

Yes, in some situations, it’s imperative to get from one place to another as quickly as possible. Interstates make that possible, and they do a good job of it (even adjusting for Breezewood). I’ve done it that way before. (I really need to stop making evening plans in Pittsburgh on days I wake up in other cities.) It’s exhausting — a grueling and joyless endurance test, as hard on the eyes as it is on the butt.

Finding reasons to stop — even if that reason is simply “traffic slowed down, and there’s a place to eat right there” — are essential to enjoying travel by car. Breezewood has been performing a service to travelers in this regard: Rather than navigate the challenges of getting off the highway or making do with the amenities of a rest stop, Breezewood offered ready-made respite about halfway between Pittsburgh and Philadelphia.

More importantly, though: We’re safer when we stop.

The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety found that one out of every six fatal car crashes involved a “drowsy driver.” Even moments of “microsleep,” that feeling of momentarily nodding out of fatigue without one’s eyes ever fully closing, can be the cause of catastrophic collisions.

The advice to combat such dangers? Some is obvious: Get at least six hours of sleep the night before traveling, rest overnight rather than driving until dawn and drink caffeine if you’re sleepy. Also: “Schedul[e] a break every two hours or every 100 miles.”

Every two hours — not once for lunch, not when you reach the brink of exhaustion and certainly not “I’ll just take a nap when I get to the hotel.” Every two hours. That’s two or three breaks between here and Philadelphia.

We’re all naturally impatient, and it can be tempting to push it. Highway rest stops make that temptation easy, posting a number of miles until the next available oasis; it’s easy to decide you can make it another hour or so before stretching your legs. It’s much easier to stop, though, when you’re not on a high-speed interstate — or when you’re briefly forced off of one, as you are in Breezewood.

I’m not sure if the work on the Breezewood interchange is a sure thing or merely an idea. If it’s the latter, I hope it doesn’t get out of the planning stages. The turnpike has more vital and beneficial uses for that money. More importantly: Breezewood is a feature, not a bug. The highway is better off with places like Breezewood; why kill them?