Save Allegheny Mountain From Highway Expansion!

Protect Allegheny Mountain and Rehabilitate the Tunnel

We, the undersigned, are strongly opposed to the Turnpike Commission’s proposed abandonment of the Allegheny Tunnel in favor of the proposed Gray Cut option. I urge the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission to instead revisit the No Build Alternative, which would result in repair and remediation of the existing Allegheny Tunnel. “Daylighting” the existing tunnel would result in significant environmental destruction that is completely unnecessary and avoidable. The Allegheny Front is our most iconic ridge, and this option would decimate land stewarded by the Mountain Field and Stream Club for the past century. This area contains vernal pools, cold springs and peatlands in higher numbers than is typical for a ridge, leading to uncommon plant communities. It is the headwaters of the Raystown Branch of the Juniata River. As one of the largest remaining unbroken forested ridges, it is a major north-south migration corridor for wildlife, particularly deer, which would be frequently struck by traffic on the newly exposed highway. It is home to an unusually high number of porcupine dens, and there are several hibernaculae of the endangered Indiana bat. The additional water pollution and wildlife habitat destruction that would result from this, or any, cut across the top of the Allegheny Front is simply too great a cost. We can no longer afford nine or ten figure highway widening projects for a marginal and temporary increase in level of service. At the same time, the rapid emergence of autonomous vehicle technology calls into serious question any projections of highway level of service more than a decade in the future. Rather than cut a gaping hole into a beloved mountain, we call on the Turnpike Commission and its travelers (ourselves included) to simply continue to slow down slightly for a mere mile or two.