Question:

What is Sideling Hill Tunnel?

by Ammad Ghauri | 3 years, 3 month(s) ago

Tags: Hill, Sideling, tunnel

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Ammad Ghauri

Sideling Hill Tunnel is one of three original Pennsylvania Turnpike tunnels which were abandoned (this one in 1968) after two massive realignment projects. The others included the nearby Rays Hill Tunnel, and further west, the Laurel Hill Tunnel. The reason for abandonment was that it would be less expensive to realign the Turnpike than to bore a second tube for four lane traffic. Sideling Hill Tunnel is 6,782 feet (2,067 m) long. It was the longest of the original tunnels on Pennsylvania Turnpike. Alongside the Ray's Hill Tunnel, the Sideling Hill Tunnel is now part of the Pike2Bike Trail. Together, the two tunnels as well as the roadway are commonly known as the Abandoned Pennsylvania Turnpike. From the Turnpike's opening in 1940 until the realignment projects, the tunnels were bottlenecks due to reduced speeds with opposing traffic in the same tubes. Four other tunnels on the Turnpike - Allegheny Mountain, Tuscarora Mountain, Kittatinny Mountain, and Blue Mountain - each had a second tube bored, as it was determined in these instances to be the less expensive option. All of the original tunnels except for the Allegheny Mountain Tunnel were part of the never-completed South Pennsylvania Railroad which history has dubbed "Vanderbilt's Folly."
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