Center for National Response

The Center for National Response was formerly located inside a former 2,802 feet (854 m) two-lane vehicular tunnel opened November 8, 1954 as part of the West Virginia Turnpike.

Its construction required the movement of 91,000 cubic yards (70,000 m3) of earth, and was the first tunnel in the nation to have closed-circuit television monitoring.

During the 1980s, an upgrade of the Turnpike included a 1.72 mile (2.77 km) bypass of the tunnel and the adjacent Stanley Bender Bridge across Paint Creek.

[3] The former Turnpike tunnel was first used by state agencies and later converted to serve as a location for first responders local fire and rescue departments, law enforcement organizations, and various federal agencies including military [4] to train for various situations that may arise in such a location without alarming the general public.

[1] Between 1992 and 1995, the Department of Transportation entered a deal with the state to utilize the abandoned tunnel for smoke, fire and ventilation experiments.