Jan. 21—BERLIN, Pa. — The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission is moving forward with a controversial project to construct 3.8 miles of roadway, cutting through the mountaintop, to eliminate the highway's Allegheny Tunnel.

At its first meeting of 2023, the commission awarded a design contract of up to $16 million to McMahon Associates. The national engineering and design firm has offices in Philadelphia and suburban Pittsburgh. The design team from McMahon will design the exact path of the new roadway, laid out several years ago as the Gray Cut option.

The Gray Cut is one of several routes considered during earlier studies. It bypasses the tunnel to the south, while other alternatives used northern routes. Each proposed route included options to either cut into the mountain or drill new tunnels.

Design and engineering work could take four years or more, followed by another four years of construction.

The project has faced strong opposition from environmental groups and many government officials since the commission first looked at plans to replace the Allegheny Tunnel more than three decades ago.

The Mountain Field and Stream Club of Somerset County has been following the process from the early stages and is among the groups actively opposing the Gray Cut option. Randy Musser is chairman of the club's turnpike committee and is a past president.

"We don't think it's environmentally the way to go," Musser said in a telephone interview. "We prefer a new tunnel right where the Gray line is going to go. We actually proposed it to the turnpike before the options were announced."

All of the proposed cuts would cross sections of the club's land along the Allegheny Ridge, requiring the commission to purchase the undeveloped forest through negotiations or by eminent domain.

The club's proposal would involve building a three-lane westbound roadway from the tunnel's eastern portal to a new westbound-only tunnel south of the current tubes. Eastbound traffic would be split to access four lanes through the existing two tunnels. Musser said the plan would address the Turnpike Commission's goals of reducing congestion with additional lanes and reducing traffic wrecks from eastbound drivers exiting the tunnel's eastern portal and immediately facing a sharp curve.

Turnpike leaders, however, said the club's plan does not address the cost of rehabilitating the existing tunnel or the requirement for trucks hauling hazardous materials to take alternative routes over the ridge.

Moreover, each tunnel costs the commission about $1 million annually for operation and maintenance, turnpike spokesman Carl DeFabo said. That includes lighting, ventilation, and round-the-clock staffing for every tunnel, and in addition to the costs of overhauling the tubes every few years.

"If you were building a turnpike today, you wouldn't build tunnels," DeFabo said.

Project engineer Nicholas Noss said the Gray Tunnel option would have more impact on the environment, the commission's study showed.

While forest land is more affected by a cut, streams and wetlands would be less impacted by that option, Nosh said.

The Turnpike Commission addressed concerns about interrupting wildlife migration along the ridge by adding a wildlife crossing overpass to the plans.

Both officials admit that the projected cost of the project has been a major driver.

"We have to be budget-conscious here for our future operations and going beyond the initial construction," DeFabo said.

Reconstructing part of the original 80-year-old turnpike requires the commission to bring the roadway up to today's standards. The curve at the eastern portal is just one part of the tunnel-area's design that is not up to snuff.

The turnpike predates the National Highway Safety Administration, so the highway was "grandfathered in," DeFabo said.

Musser said his club organized a coalition of agencies and organizations opposed to any options involving a cut through the ridge.

"They were all behind us on the tunnel," he said.

During planning, the commission included options for new tunnels, but Musser said officials were "biased" against new tubes.

"They flat told us there would be no new tunnels," Musser said. "They never wanted to consider building a tunnel."

The club, Somerset County commissioners, Somerset County Chamber of Commerce, Somerset County Conservation District, Somerset County Sportsmen's League and others filed objections to the Gray Cut plan in 2020.

Several pointed adverse weather conditions, including snow, ice, wind and fog, that are common on the mountain.

The Somerset County commissioners wrote, "In our opinion, the proposed cut will have a devastating impact on the environment of both Somerset and Bedford counties. Groundwater loss will impact the wetland and water sources of the region. Stormwater runoff, and the addition of roadway materials, will impact streams, rivers and public water sources."

The Camber of Commerce said the project would create a hardship on residents and have a lasting, devastating impact on our environment in both Somerset and Bedford counties.

"The Allegheny Tunnel area is the postcard entrance into Somerset County and the beauty of the pristine mountains and forests are all a part of what attracts visitors to the county," the letter noted.

The Sportsmen's League said it is "totally opposed" to any bypass that cut into the mountain.

"A bypass would be an eternal monument to environmental and aesthetic disaster," the league wrote.

The Conservation District wrote, The Allegheny Mountain contains contiguous forest land which provides essential wildlife habitat and migration corridors. The cut alternative would destroy hundreds of acres of forested mountain top."