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

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Hawaii Route 8930

By
Hawaii Route 8930 is a 2.5-mile State Highway on the Island of O'hau.  Hawaii Route 8930 is aligned over Kualakai Parkway over the course of its entire alignment south from Interstate H-1 to Kapolei Parkway.  Hawaii Route 8930 is one of the newest Hawaii Routes only having been completed during 2010.   This page is part of the Gribblenation O'ahu Highways page.  All Gribblenation and Roadwaywiz media related to the highway system of O'ahu can be found at the link below: https://www.gribblenation.org/p/gribblenation-oahu-highways-page.html Part 1; the history of Hawaii Route 8930 The history of Hawaii Route 8930 is brief given it is a modern facility.  Hawaii Route 8930 and what was known as "North-South Road" were built to facilitate the developing areas of Kapolei on western O'ahu.  According to hawaiihighways.com the first stage of Hawaii Route 8930 was completed from Kapolei Parkway north to Farrington Highway as a four-lane highway during November...
Post a Comment
Read more

Madera County Road 607 and the Stockton-Los Angeles Road

By
Madera County Road 607 is an approximately seven-mile rural unsurfaced highway which spans from Road 600 near Raymond west to Road 29.   Road 607 west from Raymond Road Cemetery (established in 1905) is part of the Stockton-Los Angeles Road corridor surveyed in 1853. The corridor lies in the gap between Fresno Crossing at the Fresno River west to Newton's Crossing at the Chowchilla River. The Buchanan Copper Mine would be along what is now Road 607 in the namesake Buchanan Hollow during July 1863. The Buchanan Mine is thought to have once had a population of between 1,000-1,500 residents by the early 1870s. Copper prices would decline in the decade after the Civil War and much of the activity at Buchanan shifted towards cattle ranching. The last businesses in the community would shutter during World War II and it is now a true ghost town. Part 1; the history of Madera County Road 607 and the Stockton-Los Angeles Road What is now Road 607 was a component of the larger Sto...
Post a Comment
Read more

Old US Route 60/70 through Hell (Chuckwall Valley Road and Ragsdale Road)

By
Back in 2016 I explored some of the derelict roadways of the Sonoran Desert of Riverside County which were part of US Route 60/70; Chuckwalla Valley Road and Ragsdale Road. US 60 and US 70 were not part of the original run of US Routes in California.  According to USends.com US 60 was extended into California by 1932.  US 60 doesn't appear on the California State Highway Map until the 1934 edition. USends.com on US 60 endpoints 1934 State Highway Map Conversely US 70 was extended into California by 1934, it first appears on the 1936 State Highway Map. USends.com on US 70 endpoints 1936 State Highway Map When US 60 and US 70 were extended into California they both utilized what was Legislative Route Number 64 from the Arizona State Line west to Coachella Valley.  LRN 64 was part of the 1919 Third State Highway Bond Act routes.  The original definition of LRN 64 routed between Mecca in Blythe and wasn't extended to the Arizona State Line until 1931 acc...
3 comments
Read more