Interstate 376
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- Note: this article covers the entire Penn-Lincoln Parkway, not just the parts currently or planned to be designated Interstate 376.
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| Interstate 376 Auxiliary route of the Interstate Highway System |
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| Length: | 14.70[1] mi (23.66 km) | ||||||||||||
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| Formed: | 1972 | ||||||||||||
| West end: |  I-279 in Pittsburgh |
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| Major junctions: |
 US 30 in Wilkinsburg |
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| East end: |   I-76/US 22 in Monroeville |
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Interstate 376 (I-376) is an auxiliary route of the Interstate Highway System in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. It presently runs from Interstate 279 in downtown Pittsburgh east to a junction with the Pennsylvania Turnpike (Interstate 76) in Monroeville. A major extension west and north to Interstate 80 near Sharon has been written into law, and will be signed once the route - currently Interstate 279, U.S. Route 22, U.S. Route 30 and PA Route 60 - is upgraded to come close to Interstate standards as agreed to by the Federal Highway Administration.
I-376 forms the east half of the Penn-Lincoln Parkway, known as the Parkway East. The Parkway West runs west from downtown Pittsburgh to Imperial; the majority of it is part of the planned extension of I-376. (The Parkway - and US 22/US 30 - actually takes an exit from the highway near Pittsburgh International Airport, while PA 60 and future I-376 continue straight.) The Parkway is named Penn-Lincoln as it was built as a bypass for the William Penn Highway (U.S. Route 22) and Lincoln Highway (U.S. Route 30). It now carries both routes from Imperial east to Wilkinsburg, where US 30 splits to the southeast while US 22 stays on the Parkway to its end in Monroeville.
I-376 is a total of six lanes for most of its length. However, it is only four lanes through the Squirrel Hill Tunnel, a major cause of congestion. A planned extension of the Pennsylvania Turnpike, the Mon/Fayette Expressway (Turnpike 43), is being designed with an east and west northern terminus that will allow traffic to bypass the tunnel once the highway is completed.
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[edit] Expansion
Recently the U.S. Congress has designated an expansion of I-376 past the Downtown Pittsburgh area and along present day I-279 past the I-79 intersection and westward along Pennsylvania Route 60 through the Pittsburgh International Airport and north to Interstate 80 in Sharon, Pennsylvania [1]. This would make I-376 depart its parent highway east of Pittsburgh, cross over its parent highway at the New Castle exit, where PA Route 60 is part of the Pennsylvania Turnpike system, and end at another major Interstate. This routing requires some major infrastructure work on U.S. Highway 22 west of Downtown Pittsburgh and on PA Route 60, though both are presently limited access highways, they are not up to national Interstate standards.
[edit] Communities along the route (from west to east)
- Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- Swissvale, Pennsylvania
- Edgewood, Pennsylvania
- Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania
- Forest Hills, Pennsylvania
- Churchill, Pennsylvania
- Wilkins Township, Pennsylvania
- Penn Hills, Pennsylvania
- Monroeville, Pennsylvania
Control cities are:
[edit] History
The Parkway East opened June 5, 1953 from PA Route 885 (Bates Street) near the Hot Metal Bridge east through the Squirrel Hill Tunnel to U.S. Route 22 Business (then US 22) at Churchill. In late 1956, it opened from the Boulevard of the Allies (then US 22/US 30) near the Birmingham Bridge east to Bates Street, with the eastbound lanes opening September 10 and westbound opening September 29. The other downtown sections opened in 1958 and 1959, and the extension east to the Pennsylvania Turnpike in Monroeville opened October 27, 1962.[2]
The Parkway East has had the following numbers:
- 1950s-present: US 22 (whole route) and US 30 (west of Wilkinsburg)
- 1950s-1961: PA Route 80 (east of Wilkinsburg)
- 1959-1964: I-70
- 1964-1972: I-76
- 1972-present: I-376
The first section of the Parkway West opened October 15, 1953, running from PA Route 60 (Steubenville Pike, then US 22/US 30) near Pittsburgh International Airport east to Saw Mill Run Boulevard (PA Route 51 and US 19). At Steubenville Pike, it connected to PA Route 60 - the Airport Parkway - which had been built ca. 1950[3] as a high-speed surface road to provide access to the airport. The Fort Pitt Bridge opened June 19, 1959, and the Fort Pitt Tunnels completed the route on September 1, 1960. The final piece, from PA 60 west to the US 22/US 30 split at Imperial, opened in 1964.[4][5] Early plans for that section would have instead taken it from PA 60 where it presently splits with PA Route 60 Business northwest to US 30 near Campmeeting Road at Clinton.[6]
The Parkway West has had the following numbers:
- 1950s-present: US 22 and US 30 (whole route; used the West End Bypass (PA Route 51) and Carson Street (PA Route 837) until the tunnels opened)
- 1959-1964: I-70 (east of PA Route 50 in Carnegie[7])
- 1963-1970: I-79 (east of Carnegie)
- 1970-1972: I-76 (east of Carnegie)
- 1972-present: I-279 (east of Carnegie)
[edit] Exit list
| # | Destinations | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Old | |||
    Interstate 279 south - Fort Pitt Bridge; Airport (U.S. Route 22 west; U.S. Route 30 west; U.S. Route 19 Truck south) |
westbound exit and eastbound entrance | ||
| 1 | 1A | Interstate 279 north - Fort Duquesne Bridge; North Shore (U.S. Route 19 Truck north) |
westbound exit and eastbound entrance |
| 2 | 1B | Stanwix Street | westbound exit and eastbound entrance; originally exit 1 - exit 2 was an eastbound exit to Smithfield Street[8] |
| 3 | 1C | Grant Street | |
| 4 | 1D | Second Avenue | westbound exit only |
| 5 | 2A | Forbes Avenue - Oakland (State Route 2108) | eastbound exit and westbound entrance |
| 6 | 2B | to  Interstate 579 - Boulevard of the Allies; Liberty Bridge (PA Route 885 north) |
westbound exit and eastbound entrance |
| 7 | 3 |  PA Route 885 - Oakland; Glenwood |
westbound exit and eastbound entrance; split into 3A and 3B |
| 8 | 5 |  Squirrel Hill; Homestead (State Route 2101; Blue Belt) |
|
| Squirrel Hill Tunnel | |||
| 9 | 7 | Edgewood; Swissvale (to Green Belt) | |
| 10 | 8A | U.S. Route 30 east - Forest Hills |
no westbound exit; US 30 joins westbound and splits eastbound |
| 11 | 8B |  PA Route 8 north - Wilkinsburg |
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| 12 | 9 | Greensburg Pike (State Route 2097) | eastbound exit and westbound entrance |
| 13 | 10A |  PA Route 130 - Churchill (State Route 2104; State Route 2110) |
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| 14 | 10B |  U.S. Route 22 Business - Monroeville (State Route 2048 to Yellow Belt CW) |
eastbound exit and westbound entrance |
| 15 | 11 |   PA Route 791 north - Penn Hills (Yellow Belt CCW) |
|
| 16A | 14A |   PA Route 48 south - Monroeville (State Route 2057 south; Orange Belt CW) |
eastbound exit and westbound entrance |
| 16B | 14B | Plum (State Route 2057 north; Orange Belt CCW) |
eastbound exit and westbound entrance |
| 17[8] | U.S. Route 22 east - Murrysville |
eastbound exit and westbound entrance | |
| 18 | 15 |  Interstate 76; Pennsylvania Turnpike |
eastbound exit and westbound entrance (Pittsburgh Exit on the PA Turnpike) |
[edit] References
- ^ Federal Highway Administration - Auxiliary Routes of the Dwight D. Eisenhower National System Of Interstate and Defense Highways
- ^ Pennsylvania Highways: Interstate 376
- ^ National Bridge Inventory
- ^ Pennsylvania Highways: Interstate 279
- ^ Pennsylvania Highways: US 22
- ^ General Highway Map, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, 1950 (PDF)
- ^ 1960 Pennsylvania map, back side (PDF)
- ^ a b 1970 Pennsylvania map, front side (PDF)
[edit] External links
- http://www.pahighways.com/interstates/I376.html
- http://www.kurumi.com/roads/3di/ix76.html#376pa
- Pittsburgh News report on expansion of I-376 to the airport and I-80.
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Auxiliary routes of Interstate 76 | |
| Current and Future (F) | Former | |
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