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Abandoned Pennsylvania Turnpike

The Memorial Tunnel on the West Virginia Turnpike was bypassed in 1987 to complete upgrading that highway to Interstate standards.

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Unlike the Pennsylvania Turnpike, the West Virginia Turnpike was built two lanes for its entire length, and needed an additional two lanes in order to get the I-77 and I-64 designations.

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The military also used the highway for training soldiers for Iraq in the early 2000s, even after the highway was sold to the SAC.

Sideling Hill

The Pennsylvania Turnpike (Interstate 76) crosses Sideling Hill east of Breezewood, Pennsylvania, bypassing the two-lane Sideling Hill tunnel and the nearby Rays Hill tunnel that were formerly used by the Turnpike.

Southern Alleghenies Conservancy

The SAC has many projects in preserving the environment in South Western and South Central PA, the most notable include converting the Abandoned Pennsylvania Turnpike (which the SAC bought from the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission in 2001 for $1) into a biketrail and, to a lesser extent, some involvement in getting a permanent Flight 93 memorial built in Somerset County to honor the victims of 9/11.

West Virginia Turnpike

The bypass was not the first of its kind on a toll road, as the Pennsylvania Turnpike bypassed the Laurel Hill Tunnel in 1964 in similar fashion, and later bypassed two more tunnels with a single stretch of highway in 1968.

see also