Interstate 76 in Pennsylvania partially coincident with Pennsylvania Turnpike
Interstate 76 (I-76) is an east–west Interstate Highway in the Eastern United States. The highway runs approximately 435 miles (700 km) from an interchange with I-71 west of Akron, Ohio, east to I-295 in Bellmawr, New Jersey. This route is not contiguous with I-76 in Colorado and Nebraska.
Just west of Youngstown, I-76 joins the Ohio Turnpike and heads around the south side of Youngstown. In Pennsylvania, I-76 runs across most of the state on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, passing near Pittsburgh and Harrisburg before leaving the turnpike at Valley Forge. At Valley Forge, I-76 becomes the Schuylkill Expressway and eventually enters Philadelphia and then crosses the Walt Whitman Bridge into New Jersey. After only about three miles (4.8 km) in New Jersey, I-76 reaches its eastern terminus, though the freeway continues as Route 42 and the Atlantic City Expressway to Atlantic City.Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania Turnpike
From the Ohio border, the Pennsylvania Turnpike carries I-76 into and across most of Pennsylvania, bypassing Youngstown to the south and Pittsburgh to the north. There is a free interchange with US 19 and I-79 near Wexford. At one point, I-76 used to begin in Pittsburgh on a route that is now signed as I-376, around the 1970s. It intersects with this highway in Monroeville.From New Stanton to Breezewood, I-76 is concurrent with I-70. In this section are the bypass (built in the 1960s) of the Laurel Hill Tunnel, then the still-in-use Allegheny Mountain Tunnel in a relatively unpopulated section of South Central Pennsylvania, and then an indirect connection with I-99 in Bedford. The highway also passes through a wind farm in Somerset County and is the closest Interstate Highway to the Flight 93 National Memorial in Shanksville.
At Breezewood, I-70 exits the turnpike (making use of a short stretch of the old alignment of the Pennsylvania Turnpike), while I-76 bypasses the Rays Hill and Sideling Hill tunnels along a new alignment built in the 1960s. The major features of this section are more mountains with the Tuscarora Mountain Tunnel and then a double tunnel (Kittatinny/Blue Mountain) prior to Pennsylvania Route 997 (PA 997) near Shippensburg. I-76 intersects I-81 (indirectly) in Carlisle then I-83 and I-283 near Harrisburg, bypassing Harrisburg to the south. The Susquehanna River Bridge is a six-lane bridge that was constructed in 2003 using precast segments that replaced an older bridge across the Susquehanna River. In Morgantown, I-176 provides a connection north to Reading. At Valley Forge, I-76 diverges toward Philadelphia, but the Turnpike (as I-276) bypasses it to the north.On April 16, 1963, due in part to the extension of I-79 south from Greater Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania proposed a partial renumbering. A new number, tentatively designated I-76, would run from Downtown Pittsburgh east on what was then I-70 (I-70S bypassed Pittsburgh to the south on what is now I-70) to the Pennsylvania Turnpike at Monroeville, and then east along the remainder of I-80S to I-295. I-80S would remain on the section of turnpikes from west of Youngstown to Monroeville. This was approved February 26, 1964, and included the renumbering of all I-X80 spurs to I-X76.On June 29, 1970, a renumbering was approved in the Pittsburgh area, with the main effect being rerouting I-79 to bypass Pittsburgh to the west on the former I-279. I-279 was moved to the former I-79 north of downtown, and the former I-79 from downtown southwest to new I-79 became a western extension of I-76. (It was then that I-876 was designated for former I-479.) A realignment and extension of I-76 into Ohio, taking over the rest of I-80S to I-71 east of Lodi, was approved January 11, 1972. The former I-76 from Monroeville west into Downtown Pittsburgh became I-376, and I-279 was extended southwest from downtown along former I-76 to I-79. (I-876 was renumbered to I-579 then.) Signs in Ohio were changed September 1, 1972; the old I-80S signs remained for about a year.
On August 29, 1972, a swap of I-76 and I-676 in Philadelphia and Camden was approved. I-76 had been routed along the Vine Street Expressway and Ben Franklin Bridge (now I-676) through Center City, while I-676 used the Schuylkill Expressway and Walt Whitman Bridge to bypass downtown to the south. The switch was made because of delays in building the Vine Street Expressway, better interchange geometry at the splits, and that the Ben Franklin Bridge ends in city streets, rather than in expressway grade.
The renumbering of a Philadelphia Interstate to I-76 in the years leading up to the Bicentennial Celebration of the 1776 signing in Philadelphia of the Declaration of Independence gives rise to the question of the highway number being an intentional tribute to the Spirit of 1776. US Department of Transportation (USDOT) research into federal documentation of the I-76 renumbering found no evidence of this being intentional.Exit list
In Ohio and Pennsylvania, the routes are composed mostly of turnpikes with the exceptions in east-central Ohio and the Delaware Valley. The exit numbers on the turnpike portions in Ohio follow the mileage markers for the Ohio Turnpike.Auxiliary routes
I-176 runs north from I-76 at Morgantown, Pennsylvania, to US 422 outside of Reading, Pennsylvania.
I-276 runs east from I-76 at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, along the Pennsylvania Turnpike to I-95 in Bristol Township, Pennsylvania.
I-376 runs west from I-76 at Monroeville, Pennsylvania, through Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, becomes a toll road northwest of the airport, intersects I-76 again, and terminates at I-80 in Sharon, Pennsylvania.
I-476 begins at I-95 near Chester, Pennsylvania, and heads north, crossing I-76 near Conshohocken, Pennsylvania, and I-276 near Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania. From there it continues north on the Pennsylvania Turnpike Northeast Extension to I-81 at Clarks Summit, Pennsylvania, north of Scranton, Pennsylvania. I-476 is the longest auxiliary Interstate.
PA 576 is a planned, partially completed, southern bypass of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, though it could become I-576.
I-676 is a loop through Center City Philadelphia and Camden, New Jersey, crossing the Benjamin Franklin Bridge. It runs through several traffic signals in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in violation of Interstate Highway standards.
I-876 was the number for present I-579 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the early 1970s.
Interstate 76 Alternate is an incident bypass route located in Summit County, Ohio, that runs along SR 21 and I-77 between Norton, Ohio, and Akron, Ohio.
Interstate 76 Connector is an unsigned business route located in Camden, New Jersey, that runs from the I-76 and I-676 interchange to Route 168. It interchanges US 130 before reaching its eastern terminus.
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