By Tom Schuster, Director, Sierra Club Pennsylvania Chapter
Would you permanently destroy a mountain ridge so that traffic could move slightly faster and hazardous materials could be transported through it? Unfortunately, that is precisely what the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (PTC) proposes for Allegheny Mountain. The PTC wants to abandon the Allegheny Tunnel in favor of a “Gray Cut” option that would blow a mile-long, thousand foot wide, and 300 foot deep trench through the ridge top.
The Allegheny Mountain is the region’s most iconic mountain ridge, but the PTC wants to spend at least half a billion dollars of your tolls to widen the highway to six lanes through the mountain. This would leave a permanent scar that would destroy wildlife habitat and sensitive ecosystems, and endanger spring-fed water supplies for thousands of nearby residents. A decade ago, the Army Corps of Engineers denied a critical permit for a previous version of this plan, citing concerns about ecological and water pollution impacts. But now the Turnpike Commission is back with a new route.
Our concerns regarding the Gray Cut Alternative are twofold. First, “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 that 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 hibernacula 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.
Second, the enormous monetary cost of this project is not justified given the serious shortfalls we face to our public transportation system. Climate science tells us that we have to reduce our economy-wide greenhouse gas emissions by 45% by 2030, and eliminate them by 2050. In the transportation sector, this will require a fundamental shift in priorities away from highway extension and widening projects and toward expanding access to public transportation and electrifying the entire system. Regardless of which precise pot of money would pay for this project, the ultimate source is the same - the traveling public - and there is very limited appetite for increasing taxes, tolls, fares, and fees.
This mountain is amazing. The Appalachian mountains are older than the Atlantic Ocean. They are one of the remnants of the Central Pangean Mountains which were as tall as the Himalayas are today, back when all the earth’s major land masses were part of a single supercontinent. Other remnants include the Atlas Mountains in Morocco and the Scottish Highlands. The mountains started forming more than a BILLION years ago, and will be here many millions of years after we are gone. Unfortunately, a scar as large as the gray cut will also be around long after the turnpike itself has been abandoned and reclaimed by nature. I can imagine future travelers encountering this gash and wondering what could possibly have been so important?
Local folks are overwhelmingly opposed to this project. Add your voice to the growing opposition to the Gray Cut and let’s put a stop to this crazy scheme once and for all. The Sierra Club is asking that Pennsylvanians tell the PTC to save Allegheny Mountain from highway expansion. Don’t let the Turnpike Commission permanently destroy it!
This blog was included as part of the October 2024 Sylvanian newsletter. Please click here to check out more articles from this edition!