The view today from the ventilation room above the entrance, home to the Rays Hill sign.

When I was a kid, we'd travel the PA Turnpike from Pittsburgh to suburban Philadelphia to visit my grandparents. The turnpike tunnels were always the highlight of the trip, particularly the double-tunnel at Kittatinny and Blue Mountains. The tunnels were actually built for the never-completed "South Pennsylvania Railroad," intended by Cornelius Vanderbilt to be a competitor to the Pennsylvania Railroad's control of the line from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh. JP Morgan negotiated a treaty between the NYC and PRR. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Pennsylvania_Railroad for the railroad history, and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pennsylvania_Turnpike for the turnpike history.

A look at that narrow roadway occasions a shudder, imagining vehicles moving toward each other on two lanes, without center divider or shoulder and in bright artificial lighting. Any accident would be a nightmare to deal with, even if it didn't involve fire or a spill.

Not long ago, I found myself creeping in traffic for several miles leading into Pittsburgh's Squirrel Hill Tunnel, which is on I-376 not far from where it separates from the Turnpike. The reason? A single abandoned vehicle inside the tunnel, no police presence or assistance yet. And that is a two-bore tunnel with two lanes in each direction.