Laurel Hill Tunnel is a tunnel on the

Pennsylvania Turnpike The Pennsylvania Turnpike (Penna Turnpike or PA Turnpike) is a toll highway operated by the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (PTC) in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. A controlled-access highway, it runs for across the state. The turnpike's we ...

that was bypassed and abandoned in 1964. It is bored through Laurel Ridge, spanning the border of Westmoreland and

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

counties. Its western portal may be seen from the eastbound side of the Turnpike at milepost 99.3. The tunnel was built for the never-completed

South Pennsylvania Railroad The South Pennsylvania Railroad is the name given to two proposed, but never completed, Pennsylvania railroads in the nineteenth century. Parts of the right of way for the second South Pennsylvania Railroad were reused for the Pennsylvania Turnpik ...

, as were two other tunnels to its east—

Sideling Hill Sideling Hill, also Side Long Hill, is a long, steep, narrow mountain ridge in the Ridge-and-Valley (or Allegheny Mountains) physiographic province of the Appalachian Mountains, located in Washington County in western Maryland and adjacent West ...

and

Rays Hill Rays Hill is a mountain ridge in Pennsylvania's Ridge and Valley Appalachians region. It is bordered to the east by Sideling Hill. About halfway along its run, the west side of Rays Hill ties into Broad Top Mountain, a large plateau. On its west i ...

—that were similarly on the original Turnpike and abandoned after being bypassed.

Bypass

The tunnels on the Turnpike had been bottlenecks ever since the Turnpike's opening in 1940 due to reduced speeds and two-way traffic in a single tube. A second tube was added to four tunnels— Allegheny Mountain,

Tuscarora Mountain Tuscarora Mountain is a mountain ridge of the Appalachian Mountains in the Ridge and Valley province in central Pennsylvania. It reaches its highest point on Big Mountain (Pennsylvania) at above sea level. The mountain is named after the Tuscaro ...

Kittatinny Mountain Kittatinny Mountain (Lenape: Kitahtëne) is a long ridge traversing primarily across Sussex County in northwestern New Jersey, running in a northeast-southwest axis, a continuation across the Delaware Water Gap of Pennsylvania's Blue Mountain ...

, and Blue Mountain—where it was the less expensive option. Unlike the Sideling Hill and Rays Hill tunnels, the Laurel Hill Tunnel is not on the bypassed section commonly known as the

Abandoned Pennsylvania Turnpike The Abandoned Pennsylvania Turnpike is the common name of a stretch of the Pennsylvania Turnpike that was bypassed in 1968 when a modern stretch opened to ease traffic congestion in the tunnels. In this case, the Sideling Hill Tunnel and Rays Hi ...

and is still owned by the

Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (PTC) is an agency created in 1937 to construct, finance, operate, and maintain the Pennsylvania Turnpike (both the mainline and the Northeast Extension). The commission consists of five members. Four membe ...

. It is not open to the public and is routinely patrolled by the

Pennsylvania State Police The Pennsylvania State Police (PSP) is the state police agency of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, responsible for statewide law enforcement. The Pennsylvania State Police is a full service law enforcement agency which handles both traffic and cr ...

for trespassers. The highest point on the Turnpike, , is on the Laurel Hill Tunnel bypass at Mile 100.45 in Somerset County.

Testing use

The tunnel is used by

Chip Ganassi Racing Chip Ganassi Racing, LLC (CGR), also sometimes branded as Chip Ganassi Racing Teams, is an American auto racing organization with teams competing in the IndyCar Series, NTT IndyCar Series, International Motor Sports Association, IMSA WeatherTech ...

for high-speed race car aerodynamic testing. The tunnel has been repaved, equipped with climate control, safety equipment, and data collection systems. The tunnel was first used for testing in 2004 to develop the

G-Force The gravitational force equivalent, or, more commonly, g-force, is a measurement of the type of force per unit mass – typically acceleration – that causes a perception of weight, with a g-force of 1 g (not gram in mass measure ...

Indycar INDYCAR, LLC, is an American-based auto racing sanctioning body for Indy car racing and other disciplines of open wheel car racing. The organization sanctions five racing series: the premier IndyCar Series with its centerpiece the Indianapolis ...

References

Interstate 70 Interstate 76 (Ohio–New Jersey) Transportation buildings and structures in Somerset County, Pennsylvania Transportation buildings and structures in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania Tunnels completed in 1940 Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission Former toll tunnels in the United States Former toll roads in Pennsylvania Road tunnels in Pennsylvania 1940 establishments in Pennsylvania {{US-tunnel-stub