BUTLER TWP — The opening of the Pickle Gate Crossing viaduct a half a century ago helped ease heavy traffic congestion in Lyndora caused by the Armco and Pullman Standard plants.

But the main push for the construction of the structure was to eliminate one of the deadliest railroad crossings in the state.

The viaduct, connecting Hansen Avenue to Route 8, overpassed both the creek and the railway. It marks its 50th anniversary today.

“Originally you had to go down the hill and over a bridge at the Connoquenessing Creek's bank level,” said Bill May, a Butler historian and city councilman. “Then you had to cross over the railroad tracks.”

The original bank-level bridge over the creek that was replaced by the viaduct was barely wide enough for two cars to pass.

“It was a narrow bridge,” said Merrill Moses, whose jewelry business was near the intersection at the time. “Two Model-Ts might have been able to bypass on the bridge, but today's modern cars — no way.”

Hansen Avenue ran between the entrances to the Armco and Pullman-Standard factories. Traffic jams at the narrow bridge were a daily occurrence, especially during the early morning and mid-afternoon shift changes.

The traffic also was frequently held up by trains passing through.

“There was a pretty busy rail business back in the day,” Moses said. “Armco and Pullman were always in need of moving steel or ore.”

Proposals for a viaduct to help ease congestion came long before it actually opened in 1965.

“A large-scale viaduct was first proposed in 1938,” May said.

But plans for the project were halted with World War II as steel and federal funding went to the war effort.

A push for the viaduct re-emerged in the mid-1950s following a decade of numerous fatalities at the crossing.

Records from the Butler County coroner's office listed 16 fatalities near the crossing from July 1941 through January 1952. Five of those accidents involved trains, while six involved pedestrians.

Planning for the viaduct continued for another decade as leaders worked out issues with funding and land development.

But during the years of debate, accidents continued to occur.

The death of Robert M. Varnum Jr., a 17-year-old Knoch High School senior, in 1963 proved to be a rallying point for leaders to move the project forward.

Varnum was killed when his car was hit by a freight train early in the morning of Feb. 17.

Construction on the bridge began a year later in March 1964.

Fifteen homes in the Bredinville neighborhood were torn down to make way for the viaduct, much to the opposition of many of the homeowners.

The new viaduct opened Aug. 13, 1965.

Elias Ritts, a former businessman in the city, cut a ceremonial ribbon at the entrance of the bridge that morning, flanked by more than a dozen other government and civic leaders.

Ritts noted in his remarks the sorrow that Vernon Wise, publisher of the Butler Eagle at the time, was not able to attend due to an illness.

Wise was a driving force in getting the project moving, Ritts said at the time.

The viaduct significantly improved traffic flow.

“It was certainly interesting,” said longtime Butler resident Larry Berg. “It was exciting. It modernized the whole area.”

Berg said he moved to Butler right before the viaduct was built.

“The original Pickle Gate bridge was not substantial,” he said. “The viaduct was nicer and wider. It for sure eased traffic.”

Moses said he remembers the viaduct offering a safer route for both motorists and pedestrians.

But he said while the former crossing was dangerous, it wasn't the biggest hazard in Lyndora in the middle part of the century.

“There was a Harmony Line trolley trestle in Lyndora,” he said, referencing an elevated rail line. “It was just ties and rails. Kids used to walk on it as a shortcut to school, even during the winter. They weren't allowed to, but they still did. Now that was very dangerous.”

Pickle Gate nameThe viaduct was proposed to be named the Robert M. Varnum Jr. Memorial Bridge by then-state Sen. Donald Oesterling, but the idea was dropped after more than 200 Lyndora resident petitioned in opposition to the name.The bridge was named Pullman Viaduct in 1965 in reference to the Pullman-Standard factory.It kept that name for three decades until it was changed to Pickle Gate Crossing by the state Legislature in 1997.While many believe Pickle Gate stems from the chemical pickling process used at the Armco and now AK Steel facilities, May said that is not the case.“The name goes back far before Armco,” May said.Pickle Gate owes its roots to pickled cucumbers.“There was actually a pickle factory there at that crossing that closed in 1900,” May said. “That's how it gained its name.”May said the pickle shop near the eventual Pullman-Standard building did not last long due to a lack of produce coming from farmers.However, in 1903 the former pickle factory became an important site for the area when it was used as a secondary hospital during a typhoid fever outbreak.“They had 50 cots in it,” May said. “There was an epidemic in Butler that year and one out of every 13 people were stricken with typhoid fever.”