Poking Around in Pennsylvania

The Abandoned Pennsylvania Turnpike
by Craig Mains

Just east of Breezewood in Bedford County is part of a 13-mile strip of the Pennsylvania Turnpike that was abandoned in 1968 when the highway was rerouted

Jersey barriers allow hikers and bikers in but not motorized vehicles. Whether the former roadway is officially open to the public is ambiguous. The 13-mile section was sold by the Pa. Turnpike Commission to the Southern Alleghenies Conservancy (SAC) for one dollar in 2001. SAC has plans to turn it into a hiking/biking trail called Pike2Bike. They have struggled to obtain funding and not much progress has been made since 2001. It appears that for liability reasons the area is not publicly open but at the same time there aren’t any efforts to prevent access. Adding further confusion are No Trespassing signs as well as signs asking people to not leave trash behind. Access appears to be at one's own risk.

A view of the old roadway. The median strip looked like it had recently been brush-hogged.

The Pa. Turnpike was one of the first limited access highways in the US. Construction was begun in 1938 and the entire expressway from Philadelphia in the east to the Ohio line in the west was opened in 1940. The turnpike included seven tunnels, of which two are part of the abandoned section. The original turnpike was two lanes in each direction. However, four of the seven tunnels accommodated only two lanes of traffic---one in each direction. This required two lanes of traffic to merge into one. As traffic increased over the years this created a bottleneck. Rather than adding another tunnel, the turnpike commission chose to reroute this section of the highway creating the abandoned strip.

The brush stumps, some of which were a few inches in diameter, appeared to have been cut within the past month or so of my visit. The roadway would have looked noticeably different with an overgrown brushy median strip.

Another view looking east, with Ray’s Hill in the background. This section appears to have been one lane on both sides of the median so the merging would already have taken place. From 1968 to 2001 the Pa. Turnpike Commission used the abandoned roadway for various purposes including testing new paving materials and rumble strips and training new line painters.

A view of farmland to the north as seen from the abandoned turnpike.

A view of Ray’s Hill tunnel from the west side. The Ray’s Hill tunnel (and some of the others as well) was originally constructed as a railroad tunnel. Construction on the Ray’s Hill tunnel began in 1881. It was never used for rail traffic and the Pa. Turnpike Commission repurposed the unused tunnels.

A closer look at the west end of the Ray’s Hill tunnel.

The Ray’s Hill tunnel is 3532 feet long or about 2/3 of a mile. It is the shortest of the original turnpike tunnels. Even though the openings are round, the interior of the tunnel is rectangular. The tunnel is straight but not perfectly flat. It has an upward arc towards the middle. In this photo you see a little bit of light from the other end of the tunnel in the bottom right part of the tunnel. I had a flashlight with me but I was a little iffy about the batteries so I only used it when I could no longer see the ground. That was probably only for about one fifth or one sixth of the distance in the very middle of the tunnel. I could have probably made it through without a flashlight. The echo inside the tunnel was fantastic.

The second tunnel along the abandoned turnpike, the Sideling Hill tunnel, is considerably longer at 6822 feet. It is not possible to see light from the opposite end because of the arc. A good flashlight would be necessary. I did not make it to the Sideling Hill tunnel.

A view of one of the administrative rooms at the west end of the Ray’s Hill tunnel. Many people remark on the post-apocalyptic atmosphere of the tunnel. Part of the 2009 survival film, “The Road,” based on a Cormac McCarthy novel, which was set following an unspecified eco-catastrophe, was filmed using the Ray’s Hill tunnel.

This interior view shows that the interior of the tunnel is rectangular. The rounded facade on the entrances would seem to place a limit on the height of trucks using the tunnel.

A view looking out of the east end of the tunnel.

A view of the east end of the tunnel. Although there are signs of deterioration, the tunnels appear to be in relatively good condition considering they have received no maintenance in more than 50 years.

A view of the east end of Ray’s Hill tunnel.

October 2020

 

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