Interstate 81

## Interstate

**Interstate 81** is a major north-south highway connecting Ontario Highway 401 to the Knoxville, Tennessee area, and going through major cities such as Syracuse, New York, Binghamton, New York, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and Roanoke, Virginia. It also acts as a rural bypass of Washington DC.

## Route Information

### Ontario

Although Interstate 81 doesn't go through Ontario, it does have signage in Ontario along Highway 401, and Highway 137 is a direct connector between Interstate 81 and Ontario 401. Ontario 137 starts at Exit 661 on Ontario 401 near Selton, Ontario. Ontario 137 has only four junctions, Ontario 401, Thousand Islands Parkway, Shady Lane, and Benson Park Road. It then goes south into The United States and Interstate 81 begins.

### New York

After entering New York, I-81 goes south towards Watertown, crossing Wellesley Island, then after crossing the Thousands Island Bridge in Alexandria Bay, it meets NY 12. It then goes south through rural New York, then meeting Interstate 781, which goes east towards Fort Drum, while Interstate 81 continues south into Watertown. It then also meets NY 12 again in Watertown. It also passes Adams and Pulaski before meeting Interstate 481 in Syracuse. It is planned to retire the current designation of Interstate 81 between North Syracuse and Nedrow, and reroute I-81 on the current I-481 designation to remove the ugly interstate in downtown Syracuse. It then goes through Syracuse, also meeting I-90, I-690, and NY 5. It then meets I-481 again in Nedrow, and continues south towards Cortland. It is mostly rural, but meets US 20 in Cardiff, NY 80 in Tully, and NY 41 near Homer, then enters Cortland. In Cortland it meets US 11 and NY 13, and has three exits. It then continues going southbound towards Binghamton, passing Blodgett Mills, Marathon, Lisle, and Whitney Point, then in Hinman's Corner it meets the western terminus of Interstate 88. It then continues south into Binghamton, and meeting Interstate 86, and having a concurrency with it until Fivemile Point, where Interstate 86 splits to go east towards Interstate 84, and Interstate 81 continues south towards Scranton. It then passes Kirkwood, and enters Pennsylvania after 183 miles.

### Pennsylvania

Interstate 81 enters Pennsylvania, and continues south towards Scranton, passing Great Bend and New Milford, then meeting Interstate 476 near Clarks Summit. It then also meets US 11, US 6, I-84, and I-380 in Dunmore. At I-84 it turns south towards Wilkes-Barre, meeting the President Biden (Formerly Central Scranton) Expressway and US 11 (to I-476), as well as the Wilkes-Barre Scranton International Airport. It then passes Wilkes-Barre and then meets I-80 near Hazleton. It then passes Hazleton, and then goes southwest towards Harrisburg, passing Frackville, and Jonestown where it meets Interstate 78. It then goes west towards Harrisburg. It meets Interstate 83 in Colonial Park, US 22 in Harrisburg, US 15/11 in Summerdale, PA 581 in Good Hope, and then meets US 11 (to I-76/Penna Tpk) in Middlesex, and makes a turn to the southwest towards Carlisle and Chambersburg. In Carlisle it meets PA 74, PA 34, and PA 485, and in Chambersburg it meets US 30, then makes a turn to the south, towards Maryland. It meets PA 16 in Greencastle, and Mason Dixon Rd (PA 163), then enters Maryland.

### Maryland

I-81 in Maryland is a very short highway, only lasting 12 miles. At Exit 10 it meets Hagerstown Airport, at Exit 6 it meets US 40, and at Exit 4 it meets I-70. It then meets US 11 at Exit 2, and enters West Virginia. It only goes through Maugansville, Hagerstown, and Williamsport.

### West Virginia

I-81 in West Virginia only lasts 26 miles, and serves the Martinsburg area. It goes south for most of the route, and only meets one major highway, West Virginia 9. It then enters Virginia.

### Virginia

I-81 is a very major route in Virginia, being the alternate route for people not wishing to take I-95 and going through Washington and Richmond. VADOT has unfortunately not upgraded I-81 to 6 lanes along the route, only being 4 lanes on a high-priority route for most of the road except in some areas such as Roanoke. I-81 in Virginia first comes to Winchester, meeting US 50, US 522, and State Highway 7. It then continues south, meeting I-66 (not related to US 66) near Middletown, then continuing south near the Shenandoah National Park, and passing Harrisonburg (US 33) and Staunton, where it meets State Highway 262, US 250, and begins a concurrency with I-64.

It then continues south through rural and scenic Virginia, near the Jefferson/Washington National Forest. I-81 splits with I-64 in Lexington, with I-81 going southwest towards Roanoke, and I-64 goes west towards West Virginia. I-81 then continues south, and then enters Roanoke, meeting I-581, US 11, US 460, and US 220. It is parallel with US 460 until Christiansburg, with US 460 continuing north into Christiansburg, and I-81 goes west towards Fort Chiswell. In Fort Chiswell, I-81 meets I-77 and US 52. Between Exits 80 and 72, you can see the famous wrong way concurrency, with I-81 going south, and I-77 going north, and US 11 going south, and US 52 going north. It then splits with I-77 in Wytheville, with I-77 going north into West Virginia, and I-81 continues west towards Bristol. I-81 then continues west, and then goes into Bristol, meeting US 19, US 58, US 421, and I-381, then entering Tennessee. **Fun Fact:** Some street signs along State Street in Bristol show european style (VA) and (TN) shields!

### Tennessee

I-81 is a shorter route in Tennessee, going from Bristol, TN/VA to near Knoxville. I-81 meets US 11W in Bristol, then meeting I-26 south of Kingsport. It then continues southwest towards Knoxville, then ends at I-40 near White Pine.

## Auxiliary Routes

 I-481

 I-381
 VA 381