On November 2001 with TV cameras and dignitaries watching, the Turnpike Commission handed over the trail for $1. The Turnpike Commission was looking to dispose of the liability and it was eventually agreed that The Southern Alleghenies Conservancy (SAC) would purchase the land with intentions to have another entity manage the trail. Announcing this to the BicyclePA chairman, John Schubert in a meeting of volunteers, John joked that “What Joe needs is a couple of holes in the mountains.” Western Pennsylvania trail guru Bill Metzger who was also at that meeting and who is a railroad history buff responded, “They are already there.” Noting that the abandoned Turnpike bypassed this mountain pass with a flat easy road section, a task force including PennDOT and the Turnpike Commission explored this new opportunity for re-use. 30, but was unable to find a reasonable alternative on existing roads. While scouting the nearby BicyclePA Route-S, Joe Stafford was hoping to avoid the traditional challenges of Sidling Hill on Rt. State troopers patrolled the section to stop vandalism. This section was used by the TPC to train snow plow drivers, prototype rumble strips, road reflectors, reflective road pant, do vehicle crash, roll over, truck brake distance, and road sign distance visibility tests. Then the highway was completely abandoned…again! In 1968 the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (TPC) bypassed the Ray’s and Sidling Hill tunnels and 11 miles of pike. In the 1960s, four of the tunnels were “twinned” and retrofitted with new lights and tile walls, while 3 were bypassed. ![]() Trucks had little clearance and traffic often backed up for miles. The 4 lane traffic funneled to 2 opposing lanes. Nothing to slow you down (not even a set speed limit at first, and then 70 mph), nothing except the tunnels. Our nation’s first limited access toll highway opened on October 1, 1940, with hundreds of motorists waiting for days to be the first to ride “The Road of the Future”, the Turnpike was an immediate success. The History of the Pike 2 Bike trail! America’s First Super Highway, the Pennsylvania Turnpike It sat fallow until it was resurrected to become “The Highway of the Future”. ( Read more history here) The South Penn Railroad was abandoned. ![]() Thousands of workers had labored in the tunnels for $1.25/ 10 hour day, 26 of them lost their lives and the unfinished project became know as Vanderbilt’s Folly. Morgan, sold his shares to a competing railroad, thus pulling the plug in 1885. Realizing that it would never make money, one of his major backers, J.P. $16 million and 5 years were allocated, but at the end of 5 years the line was only 40% complete and $10 million had already been spent. To get revenge, he started the South Penn Rail Road. William Vanderbilt who owned the NY Central was angered when George Roberts built the Penn Central Rail Road. Two robber barons, whose only goal was to be richer, fought each other with rail lines.īack in the late 1800’s, railroads had a virtual monopoly on transportation, and connecting Philadelphia to Pittsburgh and Ohio was an early goal. How could so much money and labor go into chiseling holes through the mountains, laying a road bed, only to be walked away from? Twice! It is a story of greed and revenge.
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