Friday, December 02, 2005

Possible Summer Bicycle Trip?

I ran into this little historical gem while searching for info on another possible summer trip. That trip was going to be to an abandoned highway bridge where a friend and I would rappel into the river below. Before I got very far in that investigation I discovered the link from above and was tantalized! Ten miles of abandoned turnpike, including two tunnels! It is almost too good to be true. The tunnels, one being over a mile long, are reported to be in sound structural condition, but have no lighting. There are also several side rooms and ventilation areas in the tunnels as well. This portion of the turnpike was in use in the 1960's but was abandoned because the tunnels were not big enough to handle increasing traffic demands. Access to the highway is just off of the Breezewood exit of the current PA Turnpike, so it isn't terribly far away. Apparently the entire stretch of highway has been purchased by a private company with plans to turn it into a bicycle superhighway. Until then the owners are happy to let would be adventurers explore to their heart's delight. I was going to give you photos, but it doesn't want to work. Here's a photo page. Anyway, It is certainly going on my list for warm weather adventure.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I'll go, and taking a bike sounds great, but I think I might stay away from the mile long tunnel....I don't have *that* much dwarf blood in me. :-)