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The Abandoned Turnpike is perhaps the best-known of tunnel bypasses on toll roads. Among the other bypassed tunnels: The Laurel Hill Tunnel, which preceded the Sideling Hill and Rays Hill bypass by four years. The Memorial Tunnel on the West Virginia Turnpike was bypassed in 1987 to complete upgrading that highway to Interstate standards.
Sideling Hill Tunnel is 6,782 feet (2,067 m) long. It was the longest of the original tunnels on the Pennsylvania Turnpike. The Ray's Hill Tunnel and Sideling Hill Tunnel are now part of the Pike2Bike Trail. Together, the two tunnels as well as the roadway are commonly known as the Abandoned Pennsylvania Turnpike. [1]
Map of the Abandoned Pennsylvania Turnpike; red line shows road open for pedestrians/cyclists, dashed red line shows closed-off portions of the road, red/white alternating show tunnels: Date: 13 March 2013: Source: Own work, data from U.S. Census Bureau
I-76 (Pennsylvania Turnpike) 4,727 feet (1,441 m) [49] Laurel Hill Tunnel: Cook and Jefferson Townships Pennsylvania Turnpike (abandoned) 4,541 feet (1,384 m) 1940 [50] Lehigh Tunnel: Lehigh and Carbon counties I-476 (Northeast Extension of the Pennsylvania Turnpike) Blue Mountain: 4,400 feet (1,300 m) 1957, 1991 [51] Liberty Tunnel: Pittsburgh
Completed at a cost of $17,203,000, the Sideling Hill bypass opened on November 26, 1968, and the former alignment through the tunnels became known as the Abandoned Pennsylvania Turnpike. A rest area next to the ridge was a stop on Bill Clinton and Al Gore's post-convention bus tour in 1992.
Laurel Hill Tunnel is a 4,541-foot-long (1,384 m) tunnel on the Pennsylvania Turnpike that was bypassed and abandoned in 1964. It is bored through Laurel Ridge , spanning the border of Westmoreland and Somerset counties.
Rays Hill Tunnel is 3,532 feet (1,077 m) long. It was the shortest of the seven original tunnels on Pennsylvania Turnpike. Due to its short length, its ventilation fans were installed only at its western portal. Its eastern portal is the only one of the 14 tunnel portals on the original turnpike that has no ventilation fan housing.
The Tuscarora Mountain tunnels measure 1.1 miles (1.8 km) in length and are the second-longest active tunnels on the Pennsylvania Turnpike system. The 1.3-mile-long (2.1 km) Sideling Hill Tunnel is the longest overall, but was abandoned in 1968. Allegheny Mountain Tunnel is the longest in active use. The Tuscarora Mountain Tunnel sits on the ...