Ray's Hill Tunnel Statistics

Ray's Hill Tunnel Statistics:

Location/Nearest city: Breezewood, Pennsylvania		Ray's Hill Tunnel was the shortest of the original seven turnpike tunnels.
Library of Congress, 1940	Counties: Bedford and Fulton The county line crosses through the tunnel. The tunnel was once marked on the inside where the county line runs, as was the case with the Laurel Hill Tunnel. The sign is part of someone's private collection at the present time.	Tunnel's Direction: Runs WEST-EAST, Formerly the route of Interstates 70 and 76 RAY'S HILL TUNNEL, western portal, 1980. Photograph property of Mitch Dakelman. Used by permission.
Total length, as designed by the never-completed South Penn Railroad: 3,534 feet Image courtesy of www.southpennrailroad.com	LENGTHS OF THE SEVEN ORIGINAL TURNPIKE TUNNELS: Sideling Hill Tunnel 6,782 feet* Allegheny Mountain Tunnel 6,070 feet Tuscarora Mountain Tunnel 5,326 feet Kittatinny Mountain Tunnel 4,727 feet Laurel Hill Tunnel 4,541 feet Blue Mountain Tunnel 4,339 feet Ray's Hill Tunnel *3,532 feet*	(Library of Congress, 1939)
Tunnel Elevation: approximately 1,427 feet above sea level -------------------------- 550 feet below the summit of Ray's Hill	(Library of Congress, 1940)	Total length, according to turnpike records: 3,532 feet
Date opened to traffic: October 1, 1940 (opening of the turnpike)		Date closed to traffic: November 26, 1968 (opening of the bypass roadway)
According to a published and very credible source, I have learned the answer to the speculation as to whether or not Ray's Hill Tunnel was boarded up by the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission following it's closure in 1968. Yes, both portals of Ray's Hill were indeed boarded up by the P.T.C. between 1968 and 1988. The boards were placed at the point on the inside of the tunnel portals where the rounded face of the portal changed to the flat concrete roof. In 1988, the boards were removed and the tunnel was opened for use as part of a testing facility for the "rumble" strips that border our highways today, among other uses. When the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission concluded their temporary usage of the tunnel, they did NOT board the tunnel back up this time. Unfortunately, this helped vandals easily gain access and break glass, graffiti the walls and leave their trash in the control rooms and vents at the tunnel's western portal. To put the length of of these Turnpike tunnels into perspective ... If you have ever been to any of the Paris hotels in France and have seen or visited the Eiffel Tower ... the shortest of all of the seven original tunnels (Ray's Hill Tunnel at 3,532 feet) is about 4 times as long as the Eiffel Tower is high. The longest tunnel, Sideling Hill (6,782 feet), is 7 times as long as the Tower is high. Average two-story cheap hotels would line up almost 350 times.
	Current Ownership:	Southern Alleghenies Conservancy
Visitation Permitted?	YES!
	Interior Lighting: NONE.	Not as dark as Sideling Hill. You can see a shaft of light from the opposite portal. Look closely at the picture on the left of this row.
	Click on the link to the left to visit the Pike-2-Bike Trail's website. They offer up-to-date information on the trail availability as well as guided tours and information about the trailheads and where to best access the trail.
Coordinates, western portal: (approximate)	-78.20789, longitude	40.01542, latitude
Coordinates, eastern portal: (approximate)	-78.19830, longitude	40.02059, latitude
(Library of Congress, 1940)	Being as short as it was, Ray's Hill Tunnel only had exhaust/ ventilation fans built into its western portal. Ray's Hill is noted as the only tunnel with fans above only one portal. Shown in 1940, before the Turnpike opened (left) The eastern portal, shown in 2001 (right)	(Southern Alleghenies Conservancy, 2001)
For the other abandoned tunnel statistics pages, please select one of the following links or click on e-mail us regarding any questions, comments or updates you may have regarding Ray's Hill Tunnel:

This page was created on: September 1, 2005.
Last updated on: August 09, 2014.

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* PA TURNPIKE INFORMATION SOURCE:
http://www.paturnpike.com/tools/newsletters/winter2000/page03.htm