page_title: Abandoned Pennsylvania Turnpike
section_title: Abandonment
hierarchical_section_title: Abandoned Pennsylvania Turnpike / History / Abandonment
caption_attribution_description: Adding image of Sideling Hill Tunnel. Took myself 08/17/2006
context_page_description: The Abandoned Pennsylvania Turnpike is the common name of a 13-mile stretch of the Pennsylvania Turnpike that was bypassed in 1968 when a modern stretch opened to ease traffic congestion in the tunnels. In this case, the Sideling Hill Tunnel and Rays Hill Tunnel were bypassed, as was one of the Turnpike's travel plazas. The bypass is located just east of the heavily congested Breezewood interchange for Interstate 70 eastbound at what is now I-76 exit 161. The section of the turnpike was at one time part of the South Pennsylvania Railroad.
context_section_description: Today, the Abandoned Turnpike, as it is commonly known, is a popular tourist attraction. The PTC sold most of the property to the Southern Alleghenies Conservancy (SAC) for $1 in 2001 ($1.44 today). The property is managed by Friends of the Pike 2 Bike, a coalition of non-profit groups (including the SAC) to eventually convert the stretch into a bike trail. The property is officially closed to the public, and no motor vehicles are allowed on the property, but bicycle riders are free to use it at their own risk. The trail requires helmets and lights. Because this stretch sits on parts of the former right-of-way of the South Pennsylvania Railroad that was never completed but later formed the basis of the mainline turnpike, this makes the Pike2Bike unofficially a rail trail. The PTC still owns a stretch of about 0.25 miles (0.40 km; 1,300 ft; 400 m) on the west and 3.5 miles (5.6 km) on the east for maintenance purposes.
  The tunnel's entrances have deteriorated due to vandalism, and their signboards were taken sometime between 1981 and 1999. However, tunnel structure is still sound despite not having been maintained for decades.
  A business plan and feasibility study was completed by Gannett Fleming in 2005. It proposed various ideas to make the trail as accessible as possible for cyclists, hikers, inline skaters, and equestrians.
  As of November 2007, the trail is in the process of changing ownership to Bedford County. This is in response to the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources' need for a governmental body to own the trail before it can give out grants. The Friends of the Pike 2 Bike will continue to run and oversee the trail.
caption: Eastern portal of the Sideling Hill Tunnel
exif: {}