"Always look on the bright side of
life" the crucified thief advised Brian as he was nailed to the
cross. Even as America declines into impotence and decay, led by
corrupt and incompetent leaders, engaged in hideously expensive wars
at the behest of morons and torturing the natives, working with
diligence to disenfranchise workers, destroy unions, and send jobs to
China who have in the last decade executed the largest espionage
program in history against us, there are still things to be proud of
in America.
As the country declines and collapses
the bright side is that infrastructure is abandoned and these
fascinating and dangerous artifacts of our former civilization can be
repurposed as tourist attractions. From old missile silos, to
airports, from secret bases to abandoned tunnels, roads, factories
and mills, America gains new potential theme parks and sources of
revenue.
America may never rival the great
centers of decay such as the former Soviet Union, but it can still
hold its own and contribute our own uniquely American tradition of
decay, corruption and degradation.
Forget "Tomorrowland" and
look to the decaying past to see the future of America.
The first stop on our tour is the
abandoned tunnels of the Pennsylvania Turnpike in Eastern
Pennsylvania.
The Pennsylvania Turnpike was an early
toll road in this country connecting Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, and
extending 360 miles across the state, east to west. The turnpike
utilized seven abandoned railroad tunnels built in the 1880s. These
were dual lane tunnels, one lane in each direction. As time went by,
the single lane through the tunnels became a bottleneck and caused
major congestion. Either new tunnels needed to be built, or the
tunnels themselves bypassed. Of the 7 tunnels, 4 were expanded by
building a parallel tunnel to allow for two lanes in each direction,
and 3 tunnels were abandoned and a new section of the turnpike built
to go around the obstacle rather than through it.
Like the WW2 German Submarine Basers in
France these tunnels were too expensive to be demolished, but unlike
the submarine bases, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has sold the
tunnels and the connecting road and access right of way to a nature
conservancy, the Southern Allegheny Conservancy, who has worked to
preserve the area. It is working with "Pike2Bike" a group
which is working to make part of the abandoned turnpike into a bike
path.
Our Host
See thie following video for a tour of
the tunnels:
A web site on the abandoned turnpike:
The Pennsylvania Turnpike on Wikipedia
The Abandoned Turnpike on Wikipedia
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