Interstate 278 (Pennsylvania)

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Interstate 278 in Pennsylvania was a proposed 3-digit Interstate Highway bypass that would have bypassed the Lehigh Valley area (Allentown, Bethlehem, and Easton) on a four-lane high-speed bypass. I-278 would have started at the current I-78/U.S. 22 junction east of Trexlertown and followed in a rough arc around the Lehigh Valley, reconnecting with I-78 east of Phillipsburg, New Jersey. Due to protests by residents of Phillipsburg against the construction of a I-78/U.S. 22 highway through the town, which would have practically cut it in half, PennDOT and NJDOT decided to reroute I-78 on the proposed I-278 highway, thus not only eliminating the only even-digit x78 highway in Pennsylvania, but eventually forcing a downgrade of I-378 from an Interstate to a high-speed state highway route. Like the current I-78, I-278 would have also carried Pennsylvania Route 309, as part of PA Rt. 309 traveled on sections of the proposed highway.