A look back: Feb. 21, 1973

Traffic on the Northeast Extension of the Pennsylvania Turnpike has now grown to the point where the Lehigh Tunnel is the busiest tunnel on the turnpike. The single tube, two-lane tunnel is now handling as much or more traffic than the more modern, brighter, wider twin tube (four-lane) tunnels on the east-west section of the turnpike.

Long considered a weak sister, traffic flow studies show the Lehigh Tunnel is doing double-duty when compared to the traffic handled by tunnels at Blue Mountain, Kittatinny Mountain, Tuscarora Mountain and Allegheny Mountain.

The Lehigh Tunnel handled 4,285,000 vehicles during the fiscal year 1971-72, compared with 6,589,000 vehicles using the Allegheny Tunnel with twin tubes and four lanes.