Skip to main content

A visit to the Abandoned Pennsylvania Turnpike - October 2004

Image
By
In October 2004, Pennsylvania Highways webmaster and friend of the blog, Jeff Kitsko, hosted a road meet centered on the abandoned Pennsylvania Turnpike in Breezewood.  I was fortunate to attend.  What is unique about this trip to the abandoned highway is that we actually were able to drive on the old turnpike 36 years after it was bypassed.  We also were able to walk into the offices and ventilation areas of the tunnels for a unique perspective of the old highway.  Co-blogger Doug Kerr also was at the meet and some of his photos are included below.

From the start of our trip in Breezewood and looking back towards the Breezewood Interchange and the start of the abandoned Turnpike.  (Doug Kerr)
Entrance to the western portal of Ray's Hill Tunnel.  At a length of only 2,532 feet, only one set of exhaust fans - at the eastern portal - was needed.
After exiting the tunnel, autumn traveling motorists journeyed through a chute of color towards the Sideling Hill Tunnel, then the longest in the system.
Near the western portal of Sideling Hill is this stone culvert built for the South Penn Railroad.
A look inside the Sideling Hill Tunnel.  You can see why many bikers and walkers decide to turn around and not make it to the other side. (Doug Kerr)
A view from the upstairs offices located inside the western portal of the Sideling Hill Tunnel.  The cars give a great demonstration of how two lanes of Turnpike traffic would merge into one entering the tunnel.
Inside the Sideling Hill Tunnel and doorway leading to upstairs. (Doug Kerr)
Graffiti is rampant inside the tunnel.  (Doug Kerr)
Looking back towards the eastern portal of Sideling Hill Tunnel, which is over 6700 feet long!
A look at the abandoned pike from near the site of the former Cove Valley Travel Plaza.

Site Navigation:
Sources & Links:
Labels:

Comments

Warren Taylor said…
I'm also visiting this site regularly, this web site is really nice and the users are genuinely sharing good thoughts.
2:24 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Interstate 40's Tumultuous Ride Through the Pigeon River Gorge

By
In the nearly 60 years Interstate 40 has been open to traffic through the Pigeon River Gorge in the mountains of Western North Carolina, it has been troubled by frequent rockslides and damaging flooding, which has seen the over 30-mile stretch through North Carolina and Tennessee closed for months at a time. Most recently, excessive rainfall from Hurricane Helene in September 2024 saw sections of Interstate 40 wash away into a raging Pigeon River. While the physical troubles of Interstate 40 are well known, how I-40 came to be through the area is a tale of its own. Interstate 40 West through Haywood County near mile marker 10. I-40's route through the Pigeon River Gorge dates to local political squabbles in the 1940s and a state highway law written in 1921. A small note appeared in the July 28, 1945, Asheville Times. It read that the North Carolina State Highway Commission had authorized a feasibility study of a "...water-level road down [the] Pigeon River to the Tennessee l...
4 comments
Read more

Massena Center Suspension Bridge

By
The Massena Center Bridge, also known as the Holton D. Robinson Bridge, has had quite the tumultuous history. Situated on the Grasse River just east of Massena, New York in the hamlet of Massena Center, the Massena Center Bridge is a reminder of the efforts the community has made in order to connect over the river. The first and only other known bridge to be built at Massena Center was built in 1832, but that bridge was never long for this world. During the spring of 1833, the Grasse River dammed itself due to an ice dam, flooded and lifted the bridge off its foundation, destroying the bridge in the process.  The floods were frequent in the river during the spring, often backing up the river from Hogansburg and past Massena Center, but not to nearby Massena. After the first bridge disappeared, local residents had to resort to traveling seven miles west to Massena to cross the next closest bridge, and that was no easy task for a horse and buggy. However, it was many decades befo...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Dead Man's Curve of Interstate 90 and Innerbelt Freeway in Cleveland

By
"Dead Man's Curve" refers to the transition ramp Interstate 90 takes between Cleveland Memorial Shoreway onto the Innerbelt Freeway in downtown Cleveland, Ohio.  Said curve includes a sharp transition between the two freeways which is known for a high rate of accidents.  Currently the curve (not officially named) has a 35 MPH advisory speed and numerous safety features intended to mitigate crashes.  When the Interstate System was first conceived during 1956, Interstate 90 was intended to use the entirety Cleveland Memorial Shoreway and connect to the Northwest Freeway through Lakewood.  The Innerbelt Freeway was initially planned as the northernmost segment of Interstate 71.  The extension of Cleveland Memorial Shoreway west of Edgewater Park was never constructed which led to Interstate 90 being routed through the Innerbelt Freeway.   Part 1; the history of Cleveland's Innerbelt Freeway and Deadman's Curve The Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956 was signe...
Post a Comment
Read more