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42-722: It was the longest of the original tunnels on the Pennsylvania Turnpike. The Ray's Hill Tunnel and Sideling Hill Tunnel are now part of the Pike2Bike Trail . Together, the two tunnels as well as the roadway are commonly known as the Abandoned Pennsylvania Turnpike . From the Turnpike's opening in 1940 until the realignment projects, the tunnels were bottlenecks; opposing traffic in the same tubes reduced speeds. Four other tunnels on

84-401: A DMV office in other states, are handled by a network of private businesses called "messenger services", which contract with the department. They operate by charging service fees on top of the fees that PennDOT charges. Some messenger services also have a limited ability to perform driver's license services, such as changing a driver's license address or renewing a driver's license, but not taking

126-499: A bypass around the last two mainline tunnels was the best way to solve the congestion. The commission awarded three contracts to construct the bypass from July 1966 to March 1967. The contracts cost $ 17.2 million for roadway and another $ 2.5 million for construction of a new Sideling Hill Service Plaza to replace the Cove Valley Service Plaza, which was along the to-be-bypassed alignment. The $ 2.5 million project

168-624: A climbing lane going uphill). In 2001, the Turnpike Commission gave control of the 13.5 miles (21.7 km) length of the Rays Hill and Sideling Hill Tunnels and other roadways to the Southern Alleghenies Conservancy, who began work to convert the stretch into a bicycle trail. The trail is used by hundreds of bicycle riders, and studies occurred in 2004 and 2005 to figure how to best safely construct

210-648: A great deal. PennDOT is organized into five deputates which oversee various transportation functions. The Highway Administration deputate oversees 39,737 miles (63,951 km) of roadway and 25,400 bridges in Pennsylvania which comprise the Pennsylvania State Route System . The deputate is made up of over 9,300 employees in design, construction, maintenance, materials testing, environmental review, safety, and traffic engineering. There are eleven engineering districts located throughout

252-466: A new Sideling Hill Service Plaza to replace the Cove Valley Service Plaza, which was along the to-be-bypassed alignment. The $ 2.5 million project was to include ramps from both directions to the service plaza, so it could serve both directions. The style of the tunnel bypass was to follow the same style as the Laurel Hill bypass. On November 26, 1968, the three twinned tunnels opened, and the bypass of

294-565: A program to quadruple state funding for bridge repairs. Across the United States, 61,000 bridges are deemed "structurally deficient", which means they need repairs, contain a piece rated as "poor," and might also have a weight limit. The term structurally deficient does not mean a bridge is unsafe for travel. In Pennsylvania, eight of the top ten most traveled structurally deficient bridges are in Philadelphia. Pennsylvania has

336-417: A replacement for a lost drivers license. In addition to this, the department also operates "Photo License Centers" which solely take photographs for drivers licenses. There are 75 Drivers and Photo License Centers and 26 Photo License Centers operated by PennDOT. Transactions relating to motor vehicles, such as vehicle title transfers or replacing a lost registration plate , which would typically be handled by

378-443: A second tube bored, as it was determined in these instances to be the less expensive option. All of the original tunnels were part of the never-completed South Pennsylvania Railroad which history has dubbed "Vanderbilt's Folly." At the present time, the tunnels remain unlit and unimproved since their closure in 1968. The entire length of the bypassed section is now commonly known as the Abandoned Pennsylvania Turnpike . The tunnel

420-575: A second way to work things out. The construction was abandoned and never finished. In 1938, the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission took over the entire grade of the abandoned railway. 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

462-407: Is also in charge of Pennsylvania Welcome Centers located along major highways entering the state. According to a 2011 study by Transportation for America , 26.5% of Pennsylvania's bridges were structurally deficient and the state led the United States with six metropolitan areas with a high percentage of deficient bridges. These figures would have been higher, but the state had recently undertaken

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504-579: Is also in charge of the cash flow from the federal and state governments to fund improvement projects along with working on long-range research and map making. The Multimodal Transportation deputate oversees aviation , rail freight transport , public transportation , ports , and pedestrian and bicycle transportation. The deputate oversees airports in Pennsylvania , which includes 127 public airports, 243 private airports, and 280 private heliports. Multimodal Transportation also looks over 65 railroads which operate over 5,600 miles (9,000 km) of track in

546-2205: Is divided into engineering districts to localize engineering and maintenance. The following is a table of the districts and their associated headquarters. The statewide headquarters for PennDOT is located in the Commonwealth Keystone Building in Harrisburg . Erie County Forest County Mercer County Venango County Warren County Centre County Clearfield County Clinton County Elk County Juniata County McKean County Mifflin County Potter County Lycoming County Montour County Northumberland County Snyder County Sullivan County Tioga County Union County Lehigh County Monroe County Northampton County Schuylkill County Delaware County Montgomery County City and County of Philadelphia Dauphin County Franklin County Lancaster County Lebanon County Perry County York County Blair County Cambria County Fulton County Huntingdon County Somerset County Butler County Clarion County Indiana County Jefferson County Beaver County Lawrence County Greene County Washington County Westmoreland County PennDOT has received criticism over

588-471: Is supported by motor vehicle fuel taxes, which are dedicated solely to transportation-related state expenditures. In recent years, PennDOT has focused on intermodal transportation , which is an attempt to enhance commerce and public transportation. PennDOT employs approximately 11,000 people. PennDOT has extensive traffic cameras set up throughout the state's major cities, including Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown , Erie, Wilkes-Barre , Scranton , and

630-623: The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation 's BicyclePA Route S . Rays Hill Tunnel Rays Hill Tunnel is one of three original Pennsylvania Turnpike tunnels that were abandoned (this one in 1968) after two massive realignment projects. The others included the Sideling Hill Tunnel , and farther west, the Laurel Hill Tunnel . Rays Hill Tunnel is 3,532 feet (1,077 m) long. It

672-552: The Commonwealth. Greatest growth in the state highway system occurred in 1931 when 20,156 miles (32,438 km) of rural roads were taken over by the Commonwealth. At that time, the Department of Highways, at the direction of Governor Gifford Pinchot , embarked upon an extensive program of paving rural roadways, well known as the "get the farmer out of the mud" program. The Federal Government in 1916 instituted grants to

714-712: The Laurel Hill, the Allegheny Mountain became the first tunnel to be twinned, and opened on August 25, 1966. With the twinning of the Blue Mountain, Kittatinny Mountain and Tuscarora Mountain tunnels under construction, the Commission turned its focus to the remaining two mainline tunnels, the Rays Hill Tunnel (the shortest tunnel) and the Sideling Hill Tunnel (the longest tunnel). An engineering report dating back to 1961 suggested that building

756-481: The Rays Hill and Sideling Hill Tunnels opened. The new bypass also opened the Breezewood Interchange and the number of lanes along the turnpike expanded to four (two in each direction) or five (two in each direction, plus a climbing lane going uphill). In 2001, the Turnpike Commission gave control of the 13.5 miles (21.7 km) length of the Rays Hill and Sideling Hill Tunnels and other roadways to

798-547: The South Pennsylvania Railroad began. Construction began that year, with the plans for nine brand-new tunnels, most of which were drilled by 1885. The Sideling Hill Tunnel was built before December 1884 by John O'Brien, an engineer from Rhinebeck, New York . On July 6, 1885, a blast occurred at the end of the Sideling Hill Tunnel. The blast, which was caused by dynamite, claimed the lives of three people, including O'Brien. Several other people were injured in

840-538: The Southern Alleghenies Conservancy, who began work to convert the stretch into a bicycle trail. The trail is used by hundreds of bicycle riders, and studies occurred in 2004 and 2005 to figure how to best safely construct the trail. Because there is a lack of good lighting in the tunnels the conservancy wants to look into how to solve it. The system is called the Pike2Bike Trail and is planned to be an 18 miles (29 km) mountain bicycle loop that serves access to

882-488: The Turnpike – Allegheny Mountain , Tuscarora Mountain , Kittatinny Mountain , and Blue Mountain – each had a second tube bored, the least expensive option. All of the original tunnels except for the Allegheny Mountain Tunnel were part of "Vanderbilt's Folly", the never-completed South Pennsylvania Railroad . The Sideling Hill Tunnel's original plans date back to the year 1881, when surveying for

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924-426: The Turnpike's opening in 1940 until the realignment projects, the tunnels were bottlenecks due to reduced speeds with opposing traffic in the same tubes. Studies were completed for the remaining five mainline tunnels to determine the cost benefit of twinning of the tunnels, or complete bypass. After the studies completed, the decision was made to go ahead with a US $ 100 million construction project to work with

966-638: The associated photo. An exception to this method of operation is at the PennDOT headquarters in Harrisburg , which has a large room for all motor vehicle transactions and drivers' license transactions, with a separate room for photographing and issuing licenses to motorists. The Planning deputate develops the Twelve Year Transportation Program in collaboration with the federal government and local planning organizations, which guides improvements to transportation in Pennsylvania. It

1008-435: The blast. 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 . The bodies were so cut by the rocks during the blast, that the people were almost unidentifiable. Unfortunately William H. Vanderbilt , who had started the plans for the railroad, noticed that expenses began to inflate, and he began to look for

1050-587: The cost benefit of twinning of the tunnels, or complete bypass. After the studies completed, the decision was made to go ahead with a US $ 100 million construction project to work with the tunnels. Construction began on September 6, 1962, with the first subproject being a bypass of the Laurel Hill Tunnel. On October 30, 1964, just two years after construction began, the Laurel Hill Bypass was completed and opened. The Laurel Hill Tunnel

1092-510: The exception of the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission . Other modes of transportation supervised or supported by PennDOT include aviation , rail traffic , mass transit , intrastate highway shipping traffic, motor vehicle safety and licensing, and driver licensing . PennDOT supports the Ports of Philadelphia , Pittsburgh , and Erie . The department's current budget is approximately $ 3.8 billion in federal and state funds. The state budget

1134-568: The highest number of structurally deficient bridges in the U.S. Overall, the state has 25,000 bridges excluding privately owned bridges, which is the third-largest number of bridges in the U.S. Pennsylvania has launched a program called the Rapid Bridge Replacement project to increase the number of bridges it fixes. The project is a public-private partnership between PennDOT and the private firm Plenary Walsh Keystone Partners. The project fixed almost 700 bridges in 2014. PennDOT

1176-758: The legislature on May 6, 1970. The intent of the legislation was to consolidate transportation-related functions formerly performed in the Departments of Commerce, Revenue, Community Affairs, Forests and Waters, Military Affairs and other state agencies. PennDOT is responsible for constructing and maintaining a system of roads at the sole expense of the state. It controls more than 41,000 miles (66,000 km) of roadway. Townships control approximately 51,376 miles (82,682 km) of roads and streets; boroughs, 9,460 miles (15,220 km) and cities 6,779 miles (10,910 km). In all, there are more than 118,226 miles (190,266 km) of public roads, streets and toll roads in

1218-410: The long bottlenecks, the Commission started looking into ways to remove the congestion. There were studies that began in the mid-1950s to decide on what to do with the tunnels. The studies looked into the major tunnels, the Laurel Hill and Allegheny Mountain, and the possibility of adding a second tube, or " twinning ", to them. Studies were completed for the remaining five mainline tunnels to determine

1260-468: The remaining two mainline tunnels, the Rays Hill Tunnel (the shortest tunnel) and the Sideling Hill Tunnel (the longest tunnel). An engineering report dating back to 1961 suggested that building a bypass around the last two mainline tunnels was the best way to solve the congestion. The commission awarded three contracts to construct the bypass from July 1966 to March 1967. The contracts cost $ 17.2 million for roadway and another $ 2.5 million for construction of

1302-401: The state capital of Harrisburg , In Wilkes-Barre, cameras are fed through to a television channel for Service Electric cable customers in the city and its suburbs. Unlike speed cameras , these cameras are primarily installed for ITS purposes, and not for law enforcement. The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation was created from the former Department of Highways by Act 120, approved by

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1344-541: The state. PennDOT is responsible for motor vehicle titles and registration, along with issuing driver licenses through the Driver & Vehicle Services deputate. Somewhat uniquely, PennDOT does not operate typical DMV offices, such as those that exist in other states. Rather, they operate "Driver and Photo License Centers", for full service regarding drivers licenses. This includes activities like taking driver's tests, getting driver's license photographs taken, or requesting

1386-410: The state. The administration deputate is charged with managing various bureaus that overee fiscal management, computer systems, mobile applications, telecommunications, contract compliance, training, employee safety, human resources, office services, facilities management, quality improvements, partnerships with other government agencies and communities, and employees engagement activities. The deputate

1428-996: The state. PennDOT oversees bicycle routes across the state, including the state-designated BicyclePA bicycle routes and the portions of the federally-designated United States Bicycle Route System located within Pennsylvania. PennDOT provides the primary funding for two Amtrak trains in Pennsylvania that operate along the Keystone Corridor . The Keystone Service runs between Harrisburg and New York City via Philadelphia and offers multiple daily departures. The Pennsylvanian runs between Pittsburgh and New York City via Philadelphia and operates once daily in each direction. The Mulitmodal Transportation deputate supports public transit authorities in Pennsylvania , which consists of 34 agencies providing fixed-route and demand responsive transport to urban and rural areas and 18 agencies providing demand responsive transport only. The deputate also supports intercity bus service in

1470-495: The states for highway construction. These grants continue today and now comprise the key element in determining the size of the state's roadbuilding programs. State payments to local communities for road maintenance also have continued to expand so that they average approximately $ 170 million annually. The agency went into well-noted organizational decline. An effort to bring quality management principles to PennDOT over an extended period—four changes of state governor—accomplished

1512-456: The trail. Because there is a lack of good lighting in the tunnels the conservancy wants to look into how to solve it. The system is called the Pike2Bike Trail and is planned to be an 18 miles (29 km) mountain bicycle loop that serves access to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation 's BicyclePA Route S . Four other tunnels on the Turnpike - Allegheny Mountain , Tuscarora Mountain , Kittatinny Mountain , and Blue Mountain - each had

1554-404: The tunnels. Construction began on September 6, 1962, with the first subproject being a bypass of the Laurel Hill Tunnel. On October 30, 1964, just two years after construction began, the Laurel Hill Bypass was completed and opened. The Laurel Hill Tunnel was permanently closed on that day; however, this was not the last bypass to occur for tunnels along the turnpike. Two years after the closing of

1596-505: Was one of the seven original tunnels along the highway, six of which were built from the old railroad tunnels from the 1880s. The Allegheny Mountain Tunnel was constructed from scratch rather than from the tunnels because of structural concerns. Beginning in 1951, the eastbound traffic at the Laurel Hill Tunnel would back up during the summer weekends. By 1958, the Laurel Hill experienced congestion anytime from June to November. Because of

1638-401: Was permanently closed on that day; however, this was not the last bypass to occur for tunnels along the turnpike. Two years after the closing of the Laurel Hill, the Allegheny Mountain became the first tunnel to be twinned, and opened on August 25, 1966. With the twinning of the Blue Mountain, Kittatinny Mountain and Tuscarora Mountain tunnels under construction, the Commission turned its focus to

1680-695: Was prominently featured in the 2005 music video for the song Foxtrot Uniform Charlie Kilo by American rock band Bloodhound Gang . Pennsylvania Department of Transportation The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation ( PennDOT ) oversees transportation issues in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania . The administrator of PennDOT is the Pennsylvania Secretary of Transportation, Michael B. Carroll . PennDOT supports nearly 40,000 miles (64,000 km) of state roads and highways, about 25,000 bridges, and new roadway construction with

1722-524: 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. This difference could be seen by westbound traffic on the Turnpike. The tunnel connects Bedford and Fulton Counties in South Central Pennsylvania . From

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1764-482: Was to include ramps from both directions to the service plaza, so it could serve both directions. The style of the tunnel bypass was to follow the same style as the Laurel Hill bypass. On November 26, 1968, the three twinned tunnels opened, and the bypass of the Rays Hill and Sideling Hill Tunnels opened. The new bypass also opened the Breezewood Interchange and the number of lanes along the turnpike expanded to four (two in each direction) or five (two in each direction, plus

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