So, guru and I have noticed some interesting construction happening on our way to church. Since we go to church on a hill that is next to a river in pgh, we figured there must be a story.

And indeed there is:



Pittsburgh's Batcave?
The Wabash Tunnel through Mt Washington is probably eligible for some world record status. Built and rebuilt, but rarely used for traffic.

[The Wabash Tunnel was] built in 1902-04 for the Wabash-Pittsburg Terminal Railroad (later the Pittsburgh and West Virginia Railroad). The railroad was bankrupt by 1908. The bridge superstructure across the Mon River was finally removed in 1948, and the terminal buildings (burned in 1946) were cleared in 1955. In the years which followed, various ill-fated plans have seen the Tunnel rebuilt and "repurposed" several times: as an automobile shortcut, as a possible Skybus (rubber-tired people mover) route, as a bus garage, as a possible busway route...but mostly a long, empty batcave.

from pghbridges

Take time to read the article. There are too many good bits that I won't repeat here when you can read them there.



So, what looked like abandoned power storage out buildings for the last 8 years, are slowly turning into some sort of tunnelish thing. They have their own traffic light and everything. Turns out the Port Authority is going to try again with repurposing the tunnel to an hov (high occupancy vehicle) lane from the southside to the other side of Mt. Washington.

The construction of Port Authority’s Wabash Ramp, which will connect West Carson Street with the Wabash Tunnel, will restrict weekday off-peak traffic on a portion of West Carson Street beginning Monday, April 19, 2004.

from the port authoirty

I am slightly skeptical that actual cars will get to use this tunnel, but I could see buses getting the go ahead. Just goes to prove there is a story behind every road here.

The Tunnel to Nowhere
This summer, the authority will start building ramps to the Wabash Tunnel, the city's "Tunnel to Nowhere" for decades. Once finished in 2004, the ramps to Saw Mill Run boulevard at the south end and to Carson Street on the north end will enable motor vehicles -- buses, car pools and van pools only -- to use the old railroad tunnel.

from the post gazette