History
How could so much money and labor go into cutting holes through the mountains, laying a road bed, only to be walked away from? Twice!
Photo taken in 1885r
Back in the late 1800's railroads had the market on transportation. New railroads were being constructed to out compete competitors. Connecting Philadelphia to Pittsburgh and Ohio was an early goal. William Vanderbilt spent $10 million creating 120 miles of road bed, including bridges, culverts, and 9 tunnels. One of his major backers, J.P. Morgan, sold the right-of-way to a competing railroad, thus pulling the plug in 1885.
Thousands of workers 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. (More history)
The South Penn Railroad was abandoned. It lay furrow until it was resurrected to become "America's First Super Highway", the Pennsylvania Turnpike, our nation's first limited access highway.
Photo by Jean Swartz, courtesy Mitchell E. Dakelman / Neal A. Schorr
Opening on October 1, 1940, with hundreds of motorist waiting for hours to be the first to ride "The Road of the Future", the Turnpike was an immediate success. Easy and fast. Nothing to slow you down, (not even a set speed limit at first, and then 70MPH!)
Nothing except the tunnels.
From the start they were bottle necks. The 4 lane traffic funneled to 2 opposing lanes. This didn't work. Trucks had little clearance. Traffic backed up for miles. The Sidling Hill Tunnel had a hard time clearing the fumes.
It was apparent early that something needed to be done. 4 of the tunnels were "twinned" and retrofitted with new lights and tile walls but for 3 it was decided to bypass over the mountain rather than dig. (Fog and ice are a problem now, but at least everything is 4 lane).
This is the story of two of them.
In 1968 the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (TPC) bypassed the Ray's and Sidling Hill tunnels and 11 miles of pike.
Abandoned again.
Then
Photo by George Frost
Historical photographs courtesy of Mitchell E. Dakelman and Neal A. Schorr,
IMAGES OF AMERICA: THE PENNSYLVANIA TURNPIKE.
This section was used by TPC to train new snow plow drivers, test out rumble strips, road reflectors, vehicle crash and roll over tests, truck brake distance tests, and road sign distance visibility tests. They also stored jersey barriers here. State troopers patrolled the section to stop vandalism.
Mostly it just went to seed.
Now
Modern History
While laying out nearby BicyclePA Route-S, Joe Stafford was hoping to avoid the traditional challenges of Sidling Hill on Rt. 30, but was unable to find a reasonable alternative on existing roads. 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. The Turnpike Commission was looking to dispose of the liability and it was eventually agreed that The Southern Alleghenies Conservancy would purchase the land with intentions to have another entity manage the trail.
On November 2001 with TV cameras, and dignitaries watching the Turnpike Commission handed over the trail.
Another era had begun.
Since then The Southern Alleghenies Conservancy has been working to open the trail and get it running.
In 2003 an advisory committee was formed, by-laws were drafted, in 2004 officers were elected, and the committee currently is in the process of becoming a Not-for-profit organization that will run and eventually own the trail. In 2004 grant money from the Lincoln Highway Heritage Corridor, PA Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, and the United States Department of Agriculture Rural Business-Cooperative Service allowed SAC to hire Gannet Fleming to produce a Master Plan and Adaptive Re-Use Study, which was completed in August 2005
Officially the trail is still closed to public use. Those who use the trail, do so at their own risk.
Unofficially the trail is used by hundreds of riders.
Future History
Much needs to be done.
A "Friends of the Pike 2 Bike" association is being assembled to help fund, build, maintain and promote the trail.
Participants in the master planning process envision paving one lane. This is a compromise between leaving the P2B as a fascinating ruin and having it usable for road bikes, roller bladers, skate boarders, and others. The other 3 lanes will remain as wrecked as they are now.
Lighting is also envisioned.
Too much light will destroy the feel of the tunnels, on the other hand many riders arrive with out lights. We are pursuing an Energy Harvest grant for Solar powered LED lighting. We will be careful to use only the minimum to safely guide people through the tunnels.
A mountain bike trail that runs both sides of the road will make a fabulous 18 mile loop that can be used for races or just a great mountain bike ride.
Trail Heads with parking and pavilions will be set up at both ends to inform riders of the history and significance of the Pike 2 Bike.
The tunnels need work to restrict access to dangerous areas, to repair broken cement, and solve drainage issues.
The P2B will be connected to Bike PA Route S at both ends.
An interpretive Nature Center that not only serves the riders on the P2B but also the school children in the area is a further goal.
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This trail is sometimes referred to as: Pike to Bike, Pike 2 Bike, abandoned turnpike trail, superhighway trail, super highway trail, Pennsylvania Turnpike, PA turnpike, bike trail, Fulton County bike trail, Bedford County bike trail, Fulton County Pike to Bike, Bedford County Pike to Bike, abandoned tunnels, abandoned tunnel trail, bike tunnel trail, tunnel trail.