By 1958, the Laurel Hill experienced congestion anytime from June to November. The eastern portal of the Sideling Hill Tunnel in 2009Д«eginning in 1951, the eastbound traffic at the Laurel Hill Tunnel would back up during the summer weekends. The Allegheny Mountain Tunnel was constructed from scratch rather than from the tunnels because of structural concerns. 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. The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission started construction on a new toll highway from Carlisle, Pennsylvania to Irwin, Pennsylvania in 1938. In 1938, the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission took over the entire grade of the abandoned railway. The construction was abandoned and never finished. Vanderbilt, who had started the plans for the railroad, noticed that expenses began to inflate, and he began to look for a second way to work things out. The bodies were so cut by the rocks during the blast, that the people were almost unidentifiable. Just sixteen days later, another blast occurred in the tunnel, taking the lives of a Hungarian worker, along with two African-Americans, two Italians, and one Irishman.

Several other people were injured in the blast. The blast, which was caused by dynamite, claimed the lives of three people, including O'Brien. On July 6, 1885, a blast occurred at the end of the Sideling Hill Tunnel. The Sideling Hill Tunnel was built before December 1884 by John O'Brien, an engineer from Rhinebeck, New York. Construction began that year, with the plans for nine brand-new tunnels, most of which were drilled by 1885. The Sideling Hill Tunnel's original plans date back to the year 1881, when surveying for the South Pennsylvania Railroad began. All of the original tunnels except for the Allegheny Mountain Tunnel were part of 'Vanderbilt's Folly', the never-completed South Pennsylvania Railroad. Four other tunnels on the Turnpike вЂ“ Allegheny Mountain, Tuscarora Mountain, Kittatinny Mountain, and Blue Mountain вЂ“ each had a second tube bored, the least expensive option. ДЇrom the Turnpike's opening in 1940 until the realignment projects, the tunnels were bottlenecks opposing traffic in the same tubes reduced speeds.

Together, the two tunnels as well as the roadway are commonly known as the Abandoned Pennsylvania Turnpike. The Ray's Hill Tunnel and Sideling Hill Tunnel are now part of the Pike2Bike Trail. It was the longest of the original tunnels on the Pennsylvania Turnpike. Sideling Hill Tunnel is 6,782 feet (2,067В m) long.

It was less expensive to realign the Turnpike than to bore a second tube for four lane traffic. The others are nearby Rays Hill Tunnel, and farther west, the Laurel Hill Tunnel. Sideling Hill Tunnel is one of three original Pennsylvania Turnpike tunnels abandoned (this one in 1968) after two massive realignment projects. Hiking, biking and skateboard trail ( rail trail)

Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission abandoned

Abandoned pa turnpike