U oldies remember the old Linglestown rd underpass (Harrisburg, Progress: house, school)

[1968MGB]

Lets say 55-60 yrs ago,don't recall when they change the highway ,but you came down frt street and made a left thru the underpass to access the Linglestown road. It was a dingy pot hole wet underpass with a blind turn on the east end. there was a big hand pained sign "Blow You Horn" so to warn anyone coming west bound. Coming out of the underpass you went uphill to where you could look down to the right and see the overflow from Wild Wood Lake. The later up graded underpass can still be seen just North of the RT 39 . Take the road on the north side that almost across from 6th street . A large warehouse ? is on the hill behind a chainlink fence ,it'as between it and rt 39 .If the business is open and you drive up the hill you can look right down to it. these tid bits from the past can't even be found on the net anymore. Make it an explore day and ck' it out 1968MGB

[briantroutman]

Thanks for sharing! I’m a bit of a “road geek”—lived in Harrisburg for a couple of years and have been visiting and traveling through the area for over a decade—and I never noticed this old underpass. I’ll stop and check it out sometime when I’m driving through—although I don’t think I’d want to brave the brush and critters that likely inhabit this gulley during the warm months.

With how busy Linglestown Road is—as well as I-81 between Progress Road and the river—it’s hard for me to imagine that this narrow underpass was the only point to cross the railroad tracks from Rockville all the way down to Maclay Street. But then again, it was a different world at the time, and the new roads that have been built since then spurred the kinds of suburban development that now depend on them.

[1968MGB]

Originally Posted by briantroutman

Thanks for sharing! I’m a bit of a “road geek”—lived in Harrisburg for a couple of years and have been visiting and traveling through the area for over a decade—and I never noticed this old underpass. I’ll stop and check it out sometime when I’m driving through—although I don’t think I’d want to brave the brush and critters that likely inhabit this gulley during the warm months.

With how busy Linglestown Road is—as well as I-81 between Progress Road and the river—it’s hard for me to imagine that this narrow underpass was the only point to cross the railroad tracks from Rockville all the way down to Maclay Street. But then again, it was a different world at the time, and the new roads that have been built since then spurred the kinds of suburban development that now depend on them.

Well i think this was a replacement while they did the new road , the old underpass was dark stone like the Rockville RR bridge very narrow .- here's a good description from an old blog I pulled up ~ " If I left my house and walked down Linglestown Road toward the river, I’d come to an old tunnel that cars had to drive through. Linglestown Road was a tiny country road, one lane in each direction, hilly and dangerous. It was the only road in the area that people could use to get to town, so there were always a lot of cars on it.

But the road was a super highway compared to the tunnel. These days, laws won’t allow such traffic hazards. It was dark, about 50 yards long, had a slight dog-leg curve to it so you couldn’t see all the way through it, and it leaked water from above down onto the roadway and the cars that drove through. We referred to it as “the underpass.”

If I wanted to walk to Siggy’s house, I had to negotiate this underpass. Walking through it was a real no-no. My father would say, “if I ever hear that you walked through there I’ll spank you so hard that you won’t be able to sit down for six months.” Truth be told, my father NEVER ever spanked me or hit me in any way. Never ever. But I knew what he meant when he said that. If you tried to walk on the roadway, you would be dead before you got to the other side.

First of all, everybody that drove through there honked their horn. You couldn’t tell if another car was coming toward your car because of the dog-leg, so people honked to let oncoming traffic know they were there. And the road was barely wide enough for two cars at the same time anyway, and the walls on both sides of the road were scarred where cars hit the sides all the time. If a mouse tried to walk through there the same time opposing cars drove through, he’s be a goner for sure." ~~ this is what I remember ,unless they redid it ? love the old history . 15 yrs ago the net had all kinds of good history , today not so much ~1968MGB

[Fishhunter2010]

Lived near there and as kids we rode bikes thru underpass and fished and ice skated in Wildwood Lake. Often we would walk the bikes up to the top of lake hill on Linglestown Rd which was a narrow 2 lane road and ride full speed down thru the underpass. We would also climb down the lake outlet and walk thru the tunnel to the Susq. River. Never any adult supervision and we all survived. Another fact is that all the Herbert Hoover students that lived east of the underpass either had to walk or pay to ride the school bus. Bushey Bus Service contracted to transport all of Susq. Twp students. The tunnel was discontinued when the road was rebuilt for the river relief route and Rt 81, approx 1972.

[1968MGB]

Still looking for more photos of the old Linglestown /Front st. underpass ~~1968MGB

[1968MGB]

peeps seem to forget the past with out a kick in the butt to revive it ~~1968MGB