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

Former California State Route 41 past Bates Station

By
When California State Route 41 was commissioned during August 1934 it was aligned along the then existing Fresno-Yosemite Road north of the San Joaquin River.  Within the Sierra Nevada foothills of Madera County, the original highway alignment ran past Bates Station via what is now Madera County Road 209, part of eastern Road 406 and Road 207.   Bates Station was a stage station plotted during the early 1880s at what was the intersection of the Coarsegold Road and Stockton-Los Angeles Road.   The modern alignment bypassing Bates Station to the east would be reopened to traffic during late 1939.   Part 1; the history of California State Route 41 past Bates Station Bates Station was featured as one of the many 1875-1899 Madera County era towns in the May 21, 1968, Madera Tribune .  Post Office Service at Bates Station is noted to have been established on November 23, 1883 and ran continuously until October 31, 1903.  The postal name was sourced...
Post a Comment
Read more

The William Flinn (not Flynn) Highway - Pittsburgh's Misspelled Street

By
For decades if you traveled along PA Route 8 in Pittsburgh's North Hills suburbs, you would have noticed signs that read "William Flynn Highway" at every intersection.  Even today, many businesses and residences have their addresses listed as XXXX William Flynn Highway.  However, it's not William Flynn Highway, it is William FLINN Highway - and the gentleman who it is named for has a long and storied past in Pittsburgh's infrastructure history. William Flinn was born in England in 1851; however later that year, his family emigrated to the United States and would settle in Pittsburgh.  A 10-year-old school dropout, Flinn grew interested in politics and would join the Allegheny County Republican Party in 1877 as a ward commissioner and a seat on the Board of Fire Commissioners.  Flinn would serve in the Pennsylvania State House of Representatives and Senate from 1877 to 1902. (1) Flinn along with James J. Booth would found the Booth and Flinn construction firm ...
2 comments
Read more

Abandoned US Route 40 in the Truckee River Canyon

By
Within the Truckee River Canyon in the Sierra Nevada range numerous abandoned portions of US Route 40 can be found alongside modern Interstate 80.   This segment of highway was opened during 1926 as a bypass of the Dog Valley Grade which carried the early North Lincoln Highway and Victory Highway. The corridor of the Truckee River Canyon State Highway would be assigned as US Route 40 when the US Route System was commissioned during November 1926. During 1958 the segment of Interstate 80 between Boca, California and the Nevada state line was complete. When Interstate 80 opened east of Boca numerous obsolete portions of US Route 40 were abandoned. Some of these abandoned segments have been incorporated into the Tahoe-Pyramid Trail.  Part 1; the history of US Route 40 in the Truckee River Canyon The Truckee River Canyon for centuries has been an established corridor of travel known to native tribes crossing the Sierra Nevada range.  The first documented wagon crossi...
Post a Comment
Read more