The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission’s plan to cut through Alleghany Mountain is facing major opposition from community leaders and advocacy groups, who argue the proposal would adversely impact the landscape, wildlife and surrounding environment.
State transportation officials have spent roughly 30 years evaluating options to address the aging Allegheny Tunnel, which faces maintenance challenges, increasing traffic volumes and rising crash rates. Trucks carrying hazardous materials are also forced to reroute onto local roads to avoid the tunnel, according to the Pennsylvania Capital-Star.
Rather than expanding capacity within the tunnel system carrying Interstates 70 and 76 through the eastern continental divide, the commission is proposing rerouting the highway through a 250-foot-deep gorge into the mountaintop and constructing new roadway approaches on both sides.
The proposal would require a 1,000-foot-wide cut through Allegheny Mountain and the excavation of 12 million cubic yards of material. A community organizer told the Pennsylvania Capital-Star that the excavated material would reach 5,600 feet high if placed within the footprint of a football field.
According to the Pennsylvania Capital-Star, the commission estimates the realignment would cost more than $300 million, while expanding tunnel capacity would cost at least twice as much.
A commission representative said the proposed realignment would create a seven-lane highway through the mountain with improved safety benefits for motorists, first responders and highway workers compared to the existing tunnel configuration.
The Daily American reported that the project would improve mobility and access in Allegheny and Stonycreek townships, located south of the existing tunnel.
Opponents, however, are urging the commission to rehabilitate the existing tunnels — built in 1940 and 1965 — and construct a third eastbound tunnel instead. Supporters of that alternative argue it would preserve the mountain, protect water resources, maintain wildlife migration routes and reduce exposure to hazardous weather conditions at the mountaintop.
The project would also require the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission to invoke eminent domain, as much of the impacted land is owned by the Mountain Field and Stream Club, which opposed giving up the property.
In response, Pennsylvania State Rep. Carl Metzgar, who represents Somerset County, introduced legislation that would remove the commission’s authority to acquire land through the eminent domain process.
Sources: Pennsylvania Capital-Star, Daily American
