Skip to main content

The National Road - Maryland - Sideling Hill Cut

Image
By

Interstate 68 through Western Maryland is a highly scenic drive, and the freeway's construction has its own collection of stories as well.  It is fitting then that both the scenery and history of this Interstate come together at Sideling Hill, a handful of miles west of Hancock and Interstate 70.  This impressive piece of highway engineering eliminated a narrow, twisty an treacherous climb up and down Sideling Hill along US 40 was a key piece in improving and opening up access to Western Maryland to the rest of the state.


When opened in August 1985, the impressive road cut was the culmination of  over a decade of studies, planning and construction.  The question of how to get around, over or through Sideling Hill involved five different alternatives.  Two of them via a tunnel and the other three a cut through the mountain. (1)  Overall costs, maintenance concerns, and hazardous materials concerns ruled out the lengthy tunnel projects.  Construction on Sideling Hill section of Interstate 68 would begin in the early 1980s.


Sideling Hill Cut is a 340' cut from the top of the mountain at this point which is 1620'. (2)  Sideling Hill's peak in Maryland is 1760' just to the north.  It took five million pounds of explosives to blast through the 4.5 million cubic tons (About 10 million tons) of earth that once occupied the cut. (2)  The cost to complete the cut was $20.1 million. (2)


The cut exposes rock formations that date to the Mississippian Period - or between 340 and 365 million years ago. (3) Various types of sandstones, siltstones, conglomerates, shale, and coal can be found within the cut. (3)


The Sideling Hill Cut as part of Interstate 68 was a considerable transportation improvement connecting Western Maryland to the rest of the state.  For decades, east/west traffic had to cross the mountain via a twisty, narrow two-lane US 40 to the south which featured a dangerous hairpin turn near the top of the mountain.  In August 1991, the Sideling Hill Exhibit and Visitors Center was opened along the westbound lanes of the freeway.  Access to the Exhibit Center via a parking lot and pedestrian bridge for eastbound travelers was included.  The Exhibit Center was one of Maryland's top tourist attractions; however, budget cuts in 2009 closed the exhibit center permanently.  Since then, the Sideling Hill exhibits are on permanent display at the Hancock Museum and Visitors Center and the scenic viewpoints remain as part of a rest area.


The rest area affords many excellent scenic views of not only the Sideling Hill Cut but North into Pennsylvania and east towards Hancock as well.  There are numerous scenic vantage points at the rest stop including steps that can allow you closeup views of the road cut and the exposed rock formations.  If you are traveling through on Interstate 68, the Sideling Hill Cut is a great stop to stretch out, walk around, enjoy the scenery and even have a picnic.


 Site Navigation:


Sources & Links:


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

New River Gorge National Park & Preserve - Thurmond

By
New River Gorge National Park and Preserve is best known for whitewater rafting and other forms of adventure tourism.  Yet, found in the hollows and isolated valleys are quiet farms and former coal mining towns.  Well off the beaten path and isolated from much of its surroundings, Thurmond provides a unique view into Central West Virginia's industrial past. Thurmond began as a railroad town in the late 1800s.  Sparked by the arrival of the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad and the local coal industry, Thurmond quickly grew into a sizeable transportation and coal center.  When it incorporated as a town in 1903, Thurmond was a full-fledged community - home to two banks, two hotels, and many other services and stores. A CSX freight train passes the old coaling tower in Thurmond.  It was here that many steam locomotives would refill and refuel. Thurmond was home to a C&O railyard which serviced the numerous steam engines passing through the narrow valley.  Thu...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Tale of Tollhouse Road, western California State Route 168 and failed Piute Pass Highway

By
Western California State Route 168 is entirely located in Fresno County and is linked historically to the Tollhouse Road corridor.   Tollhouse Road is one of the oldest highways in the Sierra Nevada range of Fresno County. The corridor presently begins in at Clovis Avenue in downtown Clovis and extends northeast to Huntington Lake. In 1866 the Woods Brothers established mining claims on Pine Ridge. In 1867 Fresno County would grant the brothers a toll franchise to construct a roadway to the desirable logging areas atop Pine Ridge and near Dinkey Creek. The Woods would establish a tollhouse at the start of their franchise road and lumber mill. The lumber mill attracted settlers which led to the establishment of the mountain town of Tollhouse. Fresno County would purchase the Tollhouse Road in 1878 and make it a public highway. The county would remove the tolls and incorporate the corridor into the existing county road network. Prior to the establishment of Clovis in 1...
Post a Comment
Read more

Old Dunlap Road (former California State Route 180 in Yokuts Valley)

By
When California State Route 180 was commissioned in August 1934 the alignment in took in Sierra Nevada range was very different than from today.  The original highway alignment from Squaw Valley (now Yokuts Valley) to east Grant Grove (then part of General Grant National Park) originally followed what is now Ruth Hill Road, Dunlap Road, Pinehurst Road (modern California State Route 245), Dark Canyon Road (partially now Forest Road 14S45).  After funding fell through for the planned Kings Canyon Road the was corridor eventually picked up as a 30-mile-long cooperative project between the Division of Highways and Federal Government.  Much of current alignment of California State Route 180 bypassing Squaw Valley (now Yokuts Valley) and Dunlap was complete by 1941.  The post-1941 alignment of California State Route 180 in Squaw Valley was shifted onto what was once Dunlap Road in Squaw Valley.  This alignment itself was later bypassed by modern California State Route...
Post a Comment
Read more