Wabash Tunnel
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The north end of the tunnel, which faces downtown Pittsburgh.
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| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Location | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania |
| Coordinates | 40°25′36″N 80°01′02″W / 40.4266°N 80.0172°WCoordinates: 40°25′36″N 80°01′02″W / 40.4266°N 80.0172°W |
| Status | in use |
| Crosses | Mount Washington |
| Operation | |
| Work begun | 1902 |
| Opened | 1903 |
| Closed | 1946 |
| Reopened | 2004 |
| Owner | Port Authority of Allegheny County |
| Traffic |
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| Technical | |
| Length | 3,342 feet (1,019 m) |
| No. of tracks | 2 (1903–1944) |
| Track gauge | 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) (1903–1944) |
| Operating speed | 25 mph |
| Tunnel clearance | 13 ft 1 in (3.99 m) |
The Wabash Tunnel is a former railway tunnel and presently an automobile tunnel through Mt. Washington in the city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Constructed early in the 20th century by railroad magnate George J. Gould, it was closed to trains and cars between 1946 and 2004.
Conceived in the late 1800s, the tunnel was built in 1903 for Gould's Wabash Pittsburgh Terminal Railway venture into Pittsburgh, which failed in 1908. It carried passenger trains into the city until 1931, and freight trains until 1946. After the end of train service, the tunnel sat empty for many years. The tunnel was once connected to the Wabash Bridge across the Monongahela River, but this was demolished in 1948, and was not replaced. Its two stone support piers remain in the river.
In the early 1970s the Port Authority of Allegheny County (PAT) spent US$6 million (US$35.5 million today) rebuilding the tunnel for the never-to-be-operational Skybus people mover system. (This project was to include a new Monongahela River bridge.)
During this period, the tunnel was used to hold up to 87 of PAT's disused 1950s-era transit buses in reserve. The tunnel portals were reinforced to deter vandals, to the satisfaction of PAT's insurers. Despite this, in 1980, vandals gained access and smashed hundreds of windows and headlights on the two rows of buses parked inside.
By 1992, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) was considering using the Wabash Tunnel as a roadway to compensate for an upcoming closure of the Fort Pitt Tunnel. As part of the conversion to a roadway, the guideways for the Skybus system were removed and replaced with new paving and drainage. When awarded in 1994, the contract for this work was worth US$3.2 million (US$5.2 million today). However, in 1995, PAT declined to build a new road bridge (estimated at $US25.8 million, or US$40.6 million today) to connect the tunnel with downtown Pittsburgh.
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