Better clip this picture of the Park Avenue tunnel. It will become a memory with the construction of U.S. Rt. 52 along the face of the hill north of the city. Plans call for sealing off the venerable connecting point between Ironton and Coryville.
The Link between the relocated Rt. 52 and Rt. 75, will be north of the tunnel or downriver. A cut, 20 feet below the present elevation of the tunnel floor, will proceed along the base of Crocher’s Hill, between the creek bed and Storm’s Creek Baptist Church.
A diamond-cloverleaf interchange will be constructed, with the city-side extending into the residential areas along Park Avenue. The C. F. Repolgle Construction Co. of Circleville, Ohio, has been awarded the contract on a bid of $2,763,239.47.
Comment: I thought you might like to see this: The historic Ohio Route 93 Ironton, Ohio Tunnel was constructed in 1866 by Dr. B. F. Cory and was a way for horses and buggies to access the iron furnaces in rural Lawrence County.
The tunnel was bored through sandstone and limestone. In 1915, the tunnel was enlarged by the Mahlbe Brothers to 30 feet wide enough to accommodate two automobile lanes. It was closed and sealed in 1960 when a four-lane bypass was constructed to the immediate west as part of the Ohio Route 93 realignment and the US Route 52 freeway construction development.
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