Lehigh Tunnel

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Entrance to the Lehigh Tunnel heading southbound on Interstate 476 (Pennsylvania Turnpike Northeast Extension)

The Lehigh Tunnel is a pair of tunnels that carries the Pennsylvania Turnpike Northeast Extension (Interstate 476) under Blue Mountain north from Interstate 78 to the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area between MP 70.7 to 71.5. The tunnel was called the Lehigh Tunnel to avoid confusion with the existing Blue Mountain Tunnel on the mainline. The tunnel was "twinned" in 1994 to allow two lanes of traffic in each direction. It has an unusual appearance, as the original (northbound) tunnel is rectangular, as it used the older dig-and-blast technique, while the new tube is circular, having been constructed using the New Austrian Tunnelling method, in which a machine resembling an oversized electric shaving machine head was used to bore into the mountainside.

The Lehigh Tunnel crosses the border between Lehigh County and Carbon County. It is the only road tunnel crossed by the Appalachian Trail.

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Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission
Completed Highways
East-West Mainline • Northeast Extension • James E. Ross Highway • Amos K. Hutchinson Bypass
Under Construction/Future Highways
Mon/Fayette Expressway • Southern Beltway • Keystone Shortway
Tunnels
Allegheny Mountain Tunnel • Blue Mountain Tunnel • Kittatinny Mountain Tunnel • Lehigh Tunnel • Tuscarora Mountain Tunnel
Aborted Expansion Plans
Chester Extension • Erie Extension • Gettysburg Extension • Northwest & Southwest Extension • Philadelphia Loop Extension • Scranton Extension
Historical
Abandoned Pennsylvania Turnpike • Laurel Hill Tunnel • Rays Hill Tunnel • Sideling Hill Tunnel • South Pennsylvania Railroad
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