Sideling Hill Tunnel

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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 because it was thought to be less expensive to realign the Turnpike rather than to bore a second tube for four lane traffic.

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 each had a second tube bored, as it was determined in these instances to be the cheaper option (Allegheny Mountain, Tuscarora Mountain, Kittatinny Mountain, and Blue Mountain). All of the original tunnels were part of the never-completed South Penn Railway system which history has dubbed "Vanderbilt's Folly."

Sideling Hill Tunnel is 6782 feet (2067 meter) long. It was the longest of the original tunnels on Pennsylvania Turnpike. Alongside the Rays Hill Tunnel, the Sideling Hill Tunnel is now slated to become part of a super biketrail. Together, the two tunnels as well as the roadway are commonly known as the Abandoned Pennsylvania Turnpike.