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The Pennsylvania Turnpike, sometimes shortened to Penna Turnpike or PA Turnpike, is a controlled-access toll road which is operated by the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (PTC) in Pennsylvania. It runs for 360 miles (580 km) across the state, connecting Pittsburgh and Philadelphia , and passes through four tunnels as it crosses the Appalachian ...
Nature is starting to reclaim parts of the original 1940s roadway. When the Pennsylvania Turnpike opened in 1940, it was known as the "Tunnel Highway" because it traversed seven tunnels: from east to west, Blue Mountain, Kittatinny Mountain, Tuscarora Mountain, Sideling Hill, Rays Hill, Allegheny Mountain, and Laurel Hill. There was one tunnel ...
The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission started construction on a new toll highway from Carlisle, Pennsylvania to Irwin, Pennsylvania in 1938. When the Pennsylvania Turnpike opened on October 25, 1940, the Sideling Hill Tunnel was one of the seven original tunnels along the highway, six of which were built from the old railroad tunnels from the 1880s.
Rays Hill Tunnel is 3,532 feet (1,077 m) long. It was the shortest of the seven original tunnels on Pennsylvania Turnpike. Due to its short length, its ventilation fans were installed only at its western portal. Its eastern portal is the only one of the 14 tunnel portals on the original turnpike that has no ventilation fan housing.
Tuscarora Mountain Tunnel is one of four original Pennsylvania Turnpike tunnels still in active use. A second tube was bored in the late 1960s to ease traffic conditions. The Tuscarora Mountain tunnels measure 1.1 miles (1.8 km) in length and are the second-longest active tunnels on the Pennsylvania Turnpike system.
The current westbound tunnel was built in 1939 as part of the original construction for the highway. It was opened to general traffic in 1940 after the Pennsylvania Turnpike was opened. At first, this tunnel served both westbound and eastbound traffic with a single lane in each direction. In 1964, I-76 was routed into the tunnel.
I-76 (Pennsylvania Turnpike) 4,727 feet (1,441 m) [49] Laurel Hill Tunnel: Cook and Jefferson Townships Pennsylvania Turnpike (abandoned) 4,541 feet (1,384 m) 1940 [50] Lehigh Tunnel: Lehigh and Carbon counties I-476 (Northeast Extension of the Pennsylvania Turnpike) Blue Mountain: 4,400 feet (1,300 m) 1957, 1991 [51] Liberty Tunnel: Pittsburgh
The turnpike is governed by five commissioners; one is the current Pennsylvania Secretary of Transportation, four are appointed by the Governor of Pennsylvania. As of September 16, 2023, Pennsylvania Turnpike Commissioners are: [2] Michael Carroll, Pennsylvania Secretary of Transportation (chairman) William K. Lieberman, vice chairman