The Lehigh Tunnel is a pair of road

tunnel A tunnel is an underground or undersea passageway. It is dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, or laid under water, and is usually completely enclosed except for the two portals common at each end, though there may be access and ve ...

s that carries the

Pennsylvania Turnpike Northeast Extension Interstate 476 (I-476) is a auxiliary Interstate Highway of I-76 in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The highway runs from I-95 near Chester north to I-81 near Scranton, serving as the primary north–south Interstate corridor through east ...

(

Interstate 476 Interstate 476 (I-476) is a auxiliary Interstate Highway of I-76 in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The highway runs from I-95 near Chester north to I-81 near Scranton, serving as the primary north–south Interstate corridor through ea ...

) under Blue Mountain north from

U.S. Route 22 U.S. Route 22 (US 22) is a major east–west route and one of the original United States Numbered Highways, founded in 1926. It runs from Cincinnati, Ohio, at US 27, US 42, US 127, and US 52 to Newark, New Jer ...

in the

Lehigh Valley The Lehigh Valley () is a geography, geographic and urban area, metropolitan region formed by the Lehigh River in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, Lehigh and Northampton County, Pennsylvania, Northampton counties in eastern Pennsylvania. It is a co ...

to the

Scranton Scranton is a city in and the county seat of Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, United States. With a population of 76,328 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Scranton is the most populous city in Northeastern Pennsylvania and the ...

Wilkes-Barre Wilkes-Barre ( , alternatively or ) is a city in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. Located at the center of the Wyoming Valley in Northeastern Pennsylvania, it had a population of 44,328 in the 2020 census. ...

area between mileposts 70.7 to 71.5.

Description

Construction on this tunnel began on September 21, 1955. Originally a single tunnel that opened to traffic on April 1, 1957, turnpike officials changed the name from the originally-planned "T. J. Evans Tunnel" to the "Lehigh Tunnel" after Evans, chair of the turnpike commission during the time the tunnel was planned, was accused of defrauding the government. The new name also helped to differentiate the Lehigh Tunnel from the existing

Blue Mountain Tunnel The Blue Mountain Tunnel is one of two tunnels through Blue Mountain in Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeaster ...

on the mainline. The tunnel was twinned in 1991 to allow two lanes of traffic in each direction. It has an unusual appearance, as the original (northbound) tunnel is rectangular, as it used the older dig-and-blast technique, while the new tube is oval, having been constructed using the

New Austrian tunnelling method The new Austrian tunneling method (NATM), also known as the sequential excavation method (SEM) or sprayed concrete lining method (SCL), is a method of modern tunnel design and construction employing sophisticated monitoring to optimize various wa ...

. From 1980 to 1996, the Northeast Extension was designated as Pennsylvania Route 9, as opposing traffic faced each other in the single tube prior to the opening of the current southbound tube, and therefore did not qualify for

Interstate highway The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, commonly known as the Interstate Highway System, or the Eisenhower Interstate System, is a network of controlled-access highways that forms part of the National Hi ...

status, which was granted five years after the completion of the southbound tube. The Lehigh Tunnel crosses the border between Lehigh County and Carbon County. It is the only road tunnel crossed by the

Appalachian Trail The Appalachian Trail, also called the A.T., is a hiking trail in the Eastern United States, extending almost between Springer Mountain in Georgia and Mount Katahdin in Maine, and passing through 14 states.Gailey, Chris (2006)"Appalachian Tra ...

Accidents

Howard M. Sexton, a 70-year-old truck driver from

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

, was killed in the southbound Lehigh Tunnel on February 21, 2018, when an electrical conduit broke free from the tunnel's ceiling and fell through the windshield of his truck, striking him in the head. In a preliminary report issued on May 1, 2018, the

National Transportation Safety Board The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is an independent U.S. government investigative agency responsible for civil transportation accident investigation. In this role, the NTSB investigates and reports on aviation accidents and inci ...

revealed that a 10-foot-long section of conduit fell into the path of Sexton's truck after the steel support system for the conduits, which were suspended from the apex of the tunnel arch directly over the travel lanes, failed. The tunnel had last been inspected in 2016, at which time an inspector found evidence of corrosion on several of the steel support straps.

References

External links

Pennsylvania Turnpike

{{coord, 40.7789, -75.6523, region:US-PA_type:landmark, display=title Interstate 76 (Ohio–New Jersey) Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission Road tunnels in Pennsylvania Toll tunnels in Pennsylvania Tunnels completed in 1957 Tunnels completed in 1991 Transportation buildings and structures in Carbon County, Pennsylvania Transportation buildings and structures in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania