Laurel Hill Tunnel

Abandoned tunnel in Pennsylvania, United States

This article is about the abandoned tunnel. For the hiking trail, see Laurel Highlands Hiking Trail.

Laurel Hill Tunnel

Laurel Hill Tunnel in 1942

Overview
Line| South Penn abandoned
Location| Laurel Hill
Westmoreland and Somerset counties, Pennsylvania
Coordinates| 40°6′0.4″N 79°13′38.4″W﻿ / ﻿40.100111°N 79.227333°W﻿ / 40.100111; -79.227333
Status| Closed to traffic, leased to Chip Ganassi Racing for testing
Crosses| Laurel Hill
Operation
Work begun| 1881, railway
1938, highway
Constructed| 1881–1885, railway
1938–1940, highway
Opened| October 1, 1940
Closed| October 30, 1964, I-70/I-76 (aged 24 years)
Owner| Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission
Technical
Length| 5,450 ft (1,660 m), railway
4,541 ft (1,384 m), highway
No. of lanes| 2

Laurel Hill Tunnel is a 4,541-foot-long (1,384 m) tunnel on the Pennsylvania Turnpike that was bypassed and abandoned in 1964. It is bored through Laurel Ridge, spanning the border of Westmoreland and Somerset 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, as were two other tunnels to its east--Sideling Hill and Rays Hill--that were similarly on the original Turnpike and abandoned after being bypassed.

## Bypass

[edit]

The point eastbound where the turnpike curves north (to the left) to bypass the Laurel Hill Tunnel. The abandoned tunnel can be seen where there is a path of trees removed from the top of the mountain. Notice the jersey barriers end with the beginning of a wide grassy median.

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, Kittatinny 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 and is still owned by the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission. It is not open to the public and is routinely patrolled by the Pennsylvania State Police for trespassers.[1]

The highest point on the Turnpike, 2,603 feet (793 m), is on the Laurel Hill Tunnel bypass at Mile 100.45 in Somerset County.

## Testing use

[edit]

The tunnel is used by Chip Ganassi Racing 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 Indycar.[2][3]

## See also

[edit]

* Catesby Tunnel

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Abandoned Turnpike FAQ". Retrieved September 24, 2016.
2. ^ "The Secrets of Laurel Hill Revealed". Racecar Engineering. September 24, 2014. Retrieved October 4, 2014.
3. ^ "The Secret Racing Test Tunnel No One Wants to Talk About". Road and Track. January 9, 2015. Retrieved January 11, 2015.

* v
* t
* e

Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission

Completed highways|

* Mainline Turnpike (I-70, I-76, I-95, I-276)
* Northeast Extension (I-476)
* James E. Ross Highway (I-376)
* Amos K. Hutchinson Bypass (Turnpike 66)

Partially completed highways|

* I-95 Connector
* Mon–Fayette Expressway (Turnpike 43)
* Southern Beltway (Turnpike 576)

Tunnels and bridges|

* Allegheny Mountain Tunnel
* Allegheny River Bridge
* Beaver River Bridge
* Blue Mountain Tunnel
* Delaware River Bridge
* Kittatinny Mountain Tunnel
* Lehigh Tunnel
* Mingo Creek Viaduct
* Mon–Fayette Expressway Bridge
* Schuylkill River Bridge
* Susquehanna River Bridge
* Tuscarora Mountain Tunnel

Aborted expansion plans|

* Chester Extension
* Erie Extension
* Gettysburg Extension
* Keystone Shortway
* Northwest & Southwest Extension
* Philadelphia Loop Extension
* Scranton Extension

Historical structures|

* Abandoned Pennsylvania Turnpike
* Rays Hill Tunnel
* Sideling Hill Tunnel
* Laurel Hill Tunnel
* South Pennsylvania Railroad
* Negro Mountain Tunnel
* Quemahoning Tunnel

Tolling systems|

* E-ZPass
* Cashless Tolling

* v
* t
* e

Chip Ganassi Racing

Headquarters: Indianapolis, Indiana

Personnel|

* Chip Ganassi
* Dario Franchitti
* Chris Simmons

IndyCar Series|

| Drivers|

* (4) Kyffin Simpson
* (8) Linus Lundqvist
* (9) Scott Dixon
* (10) Álex Palou
* (11) Marcus Armstrong

|

IMSA SportsCar Championship|

| Drivers|

* (01) Sébastien Bourdais / Renger van der Zande

|

Indy NXT|

| Drivers|

* (9) Jonathan Browne
* (10) Niels Koolen

|

Former drivers|

| NASCAR|

* Blaise Alexander
* Glenn Allen Jr.
* A. J. Allmendinger
* Aric Almirola
* Trevor Bayne
* Mike Bliss
* Alex Bowman
* Kurt Busch
* Austin Cameron
* Ross Chastain
* Bryan Clauson
* Wally Dallenbach Jr.
* Dario Franchitti
* Jeff Fuller
* David Gilliland
* Robby Gordon
* Jeff Green
* Steve Grissom
* Shane Hall
* Bobby Hamilton
* Bobby Hamilton Jr.
* Kevin Hamlin
* Kenny Hendrick
* Bobby Hillin Jr.
* Ron Hornaday Jr.
* Andy Houston
* Ernie Irvan
* Kenny Irwin Jr.
* P. J. Jones
* Tommy Kendall
* Matt Kenseth
* Kyle Krisiloff
* Dylan Kwasniewski
* Scott Lagasse Jr.
* Kyle Larson
* Anthony Lazzaro
* Jason Leffler
* Sterling Marlin
* Jeremy Mayfield
* Jamie McMurray
* Brandon McReynolds
* Casey Mears
* Juan Pablo Montoya
* Ted Musgrave
* Joe Nemechek
* Steve Park
* Phil Parsons
* Kyle Petty
* Brennan Poole
* Scott Pruett
* Tyler Reddick
* Greg Sacks
* Jay Sauter
* Jim Sauter
* Ken Schrader
* Dorsey Schroeder
* Dennis Setzer
* Morgan Shepherd
* Regan Smith
* Reed Sorenson
* Jimmy Spencer
* David Stremme
* Martin Truex Jr.
* Michael Valiante
* Kenny Wallace
* Jason White

|

Indy cars|

* Michael Andretti
* Kenny Bräck
* Ryan Briscoe
* Eddie Cheever
* Max Chilton
* Dario Franchitti
* Robby Gordon
* Maurício Gugelmin
* Bryan Herta
* Jimmie Johnson
* Ed Jones
* Bruno Junqueira
* Tony Kanaan
* Sage Karam
* Charlie Kimball
* Arie Luyendyk
* Darren Manning
* Juan Pablo Montoya
* Graham Rahal
* Tony Renna
* Felix Rosenqvist
* Tony Stewart
* Jimmy Vasser
* Jeff Ward
* Dan Wheldon
* Alex Zanardi

Extreme E|

* Sara Price
* Kyle LeDuc
* RJ Anderson
* Amanda Sorensen

Other|

* Steve Arpin
* Brian Deegan
* Pipo Derani
* Joey Hand
* Brendon Hartley
* Billy Johnson
* Kevin Magnussen
* Stefan Mücke
* Max Papis
* Olivier Pla
* Andy Priaulx
* Scott Pruett
* Memo Rojas
* Lance Stroll
* Harry Tincknell
* Alexander Wurz

Indianapolis 500 wins|

* 2000 (Montoya)
* 2008 (Dixon)
* 2010 (Franchitti)
* 2012 (Franchitti)
* 2022 (Ericsson)

National Championships (IndyCar)|

* 1996 (Vasser)
* 1997 (Zanardi)
* 1998 (Zanardi)
* 1999 (Montoya)
* 2003 (Dixon)
* 2008 (Dixon)
* 2009 (Franchitti)
* 2010 (Franchitti)
* 2011 (Franchitti)
* 2013 (Dixon)
* 2015 (Dixon)
* 2018 (Dixon)
* 2020 (Dixon)
* 2021 (Palou)
* 2023 (Palou)

NASCAR Hall of Fame|

* Ron Hornaday Jr.
* Matt Kenseth

Daytona 500 wins|

* 2010 (McMurray)

Brickyard 400 wins|

* 2010 (McMurray)

All-Star Race wins|

* 2014 (McMurray)
* 2019 (Larson)

24 Hours of Le Mans wins|

* 2016 (Hand/Müller/Bourdais - LMGTE Pro)

24 Hours of Daytona wins|

* 2006 (Dixon/Wheldon/Mears)
* 2007 (Montoya/Durán/Pruett)
* 2008 (Montoya/Franchitti/Pruett/Rojas)
* 2011 (Hand/Rahal/Pruett/Rojas)
* 2013 (Montoya/Kimball/Pruett/Rojas)
* 2015 (Dixon/Kanaan/Larson/McMurray)

Predecessor teams|

* Patrick Racing
* Team SABCO

Buyouts and mergers|

* Dale Earnhardt, Inc.
* Trackhouse Racing

Facilities|

* Laurel Hill Tunnel (testing facility)

Partnerships
and affiliations|

* Honda Performance Development (IndyCar)
* Cadillac / Dallara (IMSA)

Related articles|

* NASCAR operations of Chip Ganassi Racing

*[No.]: Number
*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template