The foot wide lanes, divided into foot lanes, accommodated the width of vehicles, but shrunk to In , after one year of operation, the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission reported more than two million cars had traveled the road. By , however, there were many more vehicles on the roadway causing congestion and delays at the tunnels.
Some of these delays were as long as five miles. After a study was conducted to alleviate the problem, it was decided that it was more economical to expand the Blue, Kittatinny, Tuscarora, and Allegheny Mountain tunnels with new parallel tunnels, and to bypass the Sideling Hill, Rays Hill, and Laurel Hill tunnels.
These last three tunnels, along with a large travel plaza, encompassed 13 miles of the turnpike that was bypassed, and is known today as the Abandoned Pennsylvania Turnpike. This stretch of paved roadway has not gone unused in the last 40 years.
The Internet is full of documented trips by nature lovers, bikers, and other outdoor adventurers who have explored the roadway and the tunnels. Thanks for all of your help in advance. Hopefully someone else can provide some good information. Made it to the Tunnels and Centralia for girls weekend this past weekend — with your guidance!
Thank you for this site — it was incredibly helpful! We had a blast! Thanks for the article, I found it to be very interesting. I wish they would turn it into an atv trail…. Would it be the much fun to ride? Seem to me that the flatness of it would make it a bit boring. Might be a little loud in the tunnels with motorized vehicles. Other than vehicles to maintain the trail, or sanctioned vehicles for car tours , such as when we brought the COO of the Turnpike Commission to see the trial, motorized vehicles are prohibited.
That is not just our rule, it is written into the original contract with the PA Turnpike Commission. I have the combination to our gates, the PA State Forrest has keys to their gates. They patrol and I maintain, other than that any other vehicle ATV can get in but cars are almost impossible is breaking the law. Is a trail that takes you to a time and place that have never existed boring? You tell me. Post Apocalyptic America, where for the entire ride there is no sign of modern life, and two tunnels, dark for 48 years, not exciting?
Do you want to go through? Sound boring? We give tours and show the places locked off from the public, and the hidden gems. Never heard of any issues there. Keep in mind that the entire route is along an abandoned roadway. I traveled thru these tunnels many times during the early sixties on weekends going to DC from northwestern PA. The signs and welding would be my work. It is great to see the interest in the trail and much is happening at this point to move the trail forward.
With luck by fall it will have been transferred to a Recreational Authority so that we can obtain the grants needed to make the trail into attraction it should be. People can learn about our trail at pike2bike. They can make a reservation for a tour at grouseland. How steep is the hill? Are there any measurements on how much room there is between the concrete barriers?
However, the concrete barriers were barely wide enough for me to push a baby stroller through. The Jersey barriers were set so that you can ride a bike through but too close for an ATV. The barriers are about yards from the very start of the trail just off Rt. Getting up to the top of the hill would be a much bigger problem. We would recommend that you go to the Fulton Trail head on Pump station Rd. Getting through the barriers is no problem and it is essentially flat to the Sidling Hill Tunnel, the distance would be about the same at close to a mile.
Murray Schrotenboer Chairman of the Pike2Bike. Thanks for the extra information, Murray. I completely forgot about that initial hill when I replied.
You would be hard pressed to get a wheel chair up the entrance at Breezewood and it is another mile on broken pavement to the 1st tunnel. A better option would be to go to the far entrance off Pump Station Rd. You can see it on our maps. I went there a few times as a teen we could just bike there from our farm and we knew the people that owned the land leading down to the one entrance which from what i read is the back entrance because it was the farthest away from Breezwood I myself have never been through the tunnels they were just too dark for me and i have not been back since when i was If you want to know what the tunnels look like and the history behind them contact us at Grouseland Tours, the official tour leaders on the Pike 2 Bike.
Motorized vehicles are not allowed on the abandoned turnpike. There are barriers to keep them out at either end. Our original contract with the Turnpike Commission prohibits motorized vehicles. It is one of our biggest problems. I am a photographer and I am doing a series on abandoned areas in my area. Is camping prohibited? Camping is prohibited. There are also liability issues. There are a number of camp sites in Bedford County. Like the time my Mom was pulled over by a state cop who thought she was drunk, or falling asleep at the wheel, because she was trying to drive and twist around to smack some unruly kids at the same time.
Or the time a young fellow waved me down to the shoulder in a real panic because he thought his friend had fallen off the back of his motorcycle.
Before the days of cell phones, he followed me to the next plaza where I called the PSP for him. Turned out he had pulled out of the last plaza before his friend could mount the bike, leaving him standing there.
I had never heard of this trail until, ironically, just last night, my wife told me a friend at work had visited. So in fact, the real reason for this lengthy post, is to pass on, in third hand, that some sections of the trail are littered with sharp trash that can puncture bicycle tires. Highly advisable to come prepared for repairs. I cleaned the tunnels only 2 weeks ago, brooming out the entrances. I will be going to the trail on Monday, Channel 11 out of Pittsburgh is doing some filming there and I need to do some welding on the Rays Hill door.
Thanks for all your work, Murray. As a true fan of the Pennsylvania Turnpike, I discovered the abandoned section in while I was still in college. Over the years I have visited the site, and it, as well as the entire turnpike, and is documented in Images of America: The Pennsylvania Turnpike, written by Mitchell Dakelman and Neal Schorr.
Published in by Arcadia, the book was so popular, that Arcadia convinced us to write a second book, which will be called The Glory Years of the Pennsylvania Turnpike and should be available later in Yes, Sideling and Rays will be in the book, plus many newly discovered and unpublished pictures. Mitchell, we hope that your book contains up to date information on the Trail. The book Weird PA has a lot of misinformation. We supplied missing pieces for their toll booth and they created a display about us.
You can see up to date information at our Facebook page Pike 2 Bike. As the Chairman and manager of the trail I can give you further information if you wish.
Murray Schrotenboer. Thats way koool. Loved it and brought back memories. Use to travel every weekend in the winters to go ski at Blue Knob. Also watched as the they built the by pass. It was a scary venture thru those tunnels, lighting was very poor.
Thanks for a great revisit Bob Rohr. I live in AZ, but am originally from eastern PA. I thought I had lost it! Wish I could visit those tunnels, but not now; not now!
An adventure for one septuagenarian and one octogenarian. Wish us luck! JB, I never had the chance to drive any of the mainline 2 lanes on the Turnpike since most of our vacations took our family to New England. I discovered the Rays and Sideling Tunnels in and would go out there annually. It was a lonely forgotten place until the internet came about. Mitchell, you may want to contact us about the book. We can provide you with the latest information, and photos regarding the Pike 2 Bike.
Quite an eccentric guy. I do remember the traffic back ups going to one lane to go through the tunnel and how scary it was with the cars coming towards us so close. It was before they build the 2nd tunnel at Blue Mountain, so all of them were one lane each way, and there were only little yellowish lights at intervals on the dark concrete walls. The entire path is paved, but it can be rough in places. This is my happy place.
I love love love walking and taking pictures there. Definitely worth seeing. Trees growing up and around guardrails, weeds peeking up though the cracked roads… nature is an awesome thing! I am usually there every other weekend for a morning walk in the summer.
I ran the whole thing and it was a blast. I am training for a marathon in October. Part of the marathon is on the abandon turnpike. I did the bike tour a few years ago with friends.
There were 6 of us, 2 had our own bikes, but the guys who do the tour have rental bikes also, and they provide everyone with lanterns. Linda, we enjoyed having you and your group for a tour. We agree, it is the best way to see and understand everything.
Linda, The old Turnpike is a fascinating facility which I discovered in , only 5 years after the new bypass closed. Over the years I have collected many pictures of that section of the Turnpike when it was still in service and can be seen in two Turnpike books I coauthored with Neal Schorr, the recent is The Glory Years of the Pennsylvania Turnpike.
I am really behind the times. As a child many moons ago we would travel to and from York County and always went through the tunnels. It is kind of sad, but I am happy that they are being used for recreational purposes. The Turnpike was built with initially with 7, sone bore, two lane tunnels.
There were always the plan to double tunnel them but economics and expansion of the Turnpike prevented all of this. By traffic backups were common at the Laurel Hill Tunnel, on the west end of the original turnpike.
The Lehigh Tunnel, on the Northeast Extension was double tunneled circa For many years the abandoned turnpike between Breezewood and Fulton County was stull the property of the PTC and was considered trespassing if you went on it.
There were time I understand that state troopers would patrol it and issue trespassing tickets to explorers. But at the same time the tunnels were also vandalized. This is from the Pike 2 Bike web site, and explains how the trail came to be in the late 90s. The Turnpike Commission was looking to dispose of the liability and it was eventually agreed that The Southern Alleghenies Conservancy SAC would purchase the land with intentions to have another entity manage the trail.
Murray, how is funding coming along? I spoke with Carl Defebo some time ago and that was the issue. It would be nice to repair the joints, every 77 feet, and then repave one side of the Turnpike.
The tunnels were never repaved. I still have that lengthy report that the late John Bibber furnished me. Also, repair spalling concrete at the tunnels and put back the steel letters that spell out the names, and do some detreeing at the tunnel sites. Last year the Bedford Co. The estimate would be about 5 million. The county is now looking to assemble an authority comprised with people from both Bedford and Fulton Co.
DCNR has been excited by this trail since when I took the head of the agency for a bike tour. There is a great deal of excitement to move the trail forward. SAC is out of money and needs to take the liability of the trail off its books.
The counties are reluctant to take on the liability, despite the tremendous business opportunities that developing the trail will open. If I can be of any help, please let me know. I have many color and black and white photos of this section of highway which would be great for a brochure or promotions, or kiasks with interpretive message boards.
The Museum was missing a few pieces of their toll booth and during a tour with the Turnpike officers I mentioned that I was in possession of several toll booths worth of parts.
The museum curator came to our place, looked over the parts and pulled out 4 or 5. In exchange I was invited to the Gala, and they put up a display regarding the P2B including a photo of which I was credited. Carl stood in front of the Sideling Hill tunnel to talk about it. I pointed out that our contract with the Turnpike Commission gave us all of the land above the tunnel and did not exempt the live Turnpike that crosses over it.
I suggested we put in a toll booth to fund the project. It sounded like a good idea to me. Murray would know that. We ATV riders pay a registration fee and carry insurance. ATV riders share our trails with hikers, bikers, and horses all the time with no problems. Seems like such a waste as the ATV clubs do so much for trail maintenance and clean up of trails.
Pa should take a lesson from Hatfield and McCoy and bring some revenue to the state. Seems a bit selfish to me, when this could be connected with an existing state ATV trail. Plus, allowing motorized vehicles on there would make it less safe for the bikers and walkers that use the trails regularly. I forget which stretch was the longest, but I do remember going through at least one of the tunnels to get to the stretch we were going to test on.
We manufactured brake lining for Ford. We were running system system failures.. Running a rears only at 80, we had a lockup and the car came around and took out two guardrails. I wish I had brought a camera with me, as there is such a difference between what it looked like then and the great pictures you have posted.
Great article! This looks fascinating. My birthday is coming up and that is what I am choosing to do with my husband. The fall season is good since its not hot or cold and one can walk easily. Visited this place and Gravity Hill because of this blog. Thanks for sharing the great information!
This looks like it might be quite a fun day hike to go see, or possibly an overnight hike. ARe you able to hike the full length of the turnpike through both tunnels? You can start at Route 30, Breezewood, and walk east on the old Turnpike. At Pump Station Road, the trail ends. So you have about 8 miles each way. The Turnpike bridges where it crossed Route 30 and Pump Station Road were removed to prevent hikers and bikers to go onto Turnpike owned right-of-way.
I discovered the abandoned turnpike while staying at the Quality Inn. That view to the West from Sideling Hill is beautiful! Thanks for this article! The information here helped us plan our trip. Our relatively out-of-shape family of 5 ages biked this from Breezewood through to the end of Sideling tunnel and back!! We were too wiped out to finish the 1. This was such a unique and unforgettable experience for the entire family. There were points biking between the two tunnels that several of us thought we would pass out from exhaustion, there were low grade hills that we struggled through but my word, was it worth it.
I have been reading much about the bike2pike organization, and my only hope is that they can make it safer for more people to have access to, without taking away some of the raw wilderness. Yes, some stretches of the road are Not biker friendly, but that gave it some of its charm. Despite some of the obscene graffiti, this was an excellent family day trip.
And to think we almost did Hershey Park instead. Janet, please realize that the trail you biked was designed as a highway, so those grades up to the tunnels were no problem with autos. Yep, I had to walk my bike up the long upgrades.
Regarding the roadway, the Pennsylvania Turnpike was paved with 9 inch Portland cement, with joint lines every 72 feet. The pavement was prone to cracking due to the nature of the process the way the highway was paved. In , the 3. Mitchell, thanks so much for sharing that tidbit of information.
What you shared does seem to match up with the conditions of the various stretches of road we encountered. I was under the impression that it was a flat stretch of road, so I made the comment as a heads up for those who made the same assumption. Some sections of the new PA Turnpike would be 10 lanes wide.
This new roadway would have an mph speed limit and holographic roadway signs. It would even have an electronic computer system that would warn people of icy roads. The revised plan would upgrade the most heavily traveled areas to eight lanes with a mph speed limit. In , the state legislature passed Act 61 which legislated that the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission complete route On the existing PA Turnpike, changes were being made.
Truck climbing lanes were added; interchanges were renovated and expanded, emergency call boxes were installed along the highway and service plaza locations and food offerings were modified. The system weighed all vehicles passing through toll lanes. For the first time the PA Turnpike was now a four-lane highway for the entire mile length. Ross Highway in Beaver County, launching the s as the next decade of expansion.
It was the first major PA Turnpike expansion since the construction of the Northeastern Extension in The Northeastern Extension was also upgraded in the s, including the widening of the Lehigh Tunnel on November 22, The original PA Turnpike was now 50 years old and needed to be rebuilt.
This began in and targeted a section between mileposts 94 and 99 near Somerset County. Reconstruction work continued eastward on mileposts 76 to 85 and mileposts to Emergency call boxes were made available across the entire PA Turnpike System. By the 21st century the original mile route had expanded to miles. The decade from saw an increase in the use of intelligent devices to monitor the roadway and travel conditions.
Roadway cameras, a highway advisory radio system, a truck rollover and height alert system, fog detection system, a traffic flow detection system, and weather stations were put in place along the PA Turnpike. The PA Turnpike Commission started its public information program, TRIP, which alerted the public to travel conditions via web, phone, email, and text messages. The s saw the opening of the 7. It would be the first of three independent but interconnected projects that make up the Southern Beltway.
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