Pennsylvania Route 65

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PA Route 65

65th Infantry Division Memorial Highway

Length:

51.40 mi^[1] (83 km)

Formed:

1961

South end:

I-279/US 19 Truck in Pittsburgh

Major
junctions:

US 19 in Pittsburgh

I-79 in Glenfield

PA 51 in East Rochester

PA 18/PA 68 in Rochester

US 422 near New Castle

North end:

PA 108/PA 168 in New Castle

Counties:

Allegheny, Beaver, Lawrence

Pennsylvania State Routes
< PA 64		PA 66 >
Minor - Legislative

Pennsylvania Route 65 (abbreviated PA 65) is a major 51 mile (83 km) long^[1] state highway located in western Pennsylvania, United States. The route, traveling north-south from the Interstate 279/U.S. Route 19 Truck concurrency in Pittsburgh north to the PA Route 108/PA Route 168 concurrency in New Castle, connects downtown Pittsburgh to the northwestern portion of the Pittsburgh Metropolitan Area. PA 65 is similar in its purpose to PA Route 18 and PA Route 51, both of which run parallel to PA 65 at one point or another; however, the three routes pass through different cities for most of their respective alignments.

The route begins in the Golden Triangle of Pittsburgh as a limited-access highway, following the bank of the Allegheny and Ohio Rivers around the Manchester neighborhood, passing north of Heinz Field and west of PNC Park. While limited-access, the road becomes Ohio River Boulevard, named for the river that PA 65 parallels for 25 miles between the city of Pittsburgh and the borough of Rochester. Outside of the city, the road becomes a four-lane at-grade roadway to Rochester, with some portions featuring a divided highway. North of Rochester, PA 65 narrows to two lanes and passes through predominantly rural land, running concurrent with PA Route 18 and PA Route 288 as it heads north.

In Pittsburgh, the boulevard was one of the deadliest roads in the city from the 1970s to the early 1980s.^[2]

The entire length of PA 65 is named the 65th Infantry Division Memorial Highway after the 65th Infantry Division of the United States Army.

1 Route description
2 History
3 Exit list
4 Major intersections
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Route description

[edit] Allegheny County

[edit] Pittsburgh

Communities^[3]
Pittsburgh Bellevue Avalon Ben Avon Emsworth Glenfield Haysville Osborne Sewickley Edgeworth Leetsdale Ambridge Baden Conway Freedom East Rochester Rochester New Brighton Ellwood City New Castle

PA 65 originates at a triangular shaped interchange at the Interstate 279/U.S. Route 19 Truck concurrency near downtown Pittsburgh. Long ramps stretch from exit 7A of I-279 north of the Fort Duquesne Bridge. PA 65 starts as a limited access highway known as the "Ohio River Boulevard". This was the site of many deadly accidents during the 1970s.^[2] The following exit is called "North Shore" and is located only on PA 65 northbound. This exit is the primary entrance to Heinz Field (home to the Steelers) and it is also a way for drivers to get to PNC Park (home to the Pirates).

On the following exit, PA 65 makes a loop to the north and begins a concurrency with U.S. Route 19 at a diamond interchange just north of the West End Bridge. The following two exits (one northbound and another southbound) ends the concurrency between US 19 and PA 65. Beyond US 19, PA 65 returns to at-grade level as a divided highway through the western sections of Pittsburgh. At mile marker 2.9 near the Pittsburgh city line, PA 65 intersects the Blue Belt which crosses the Ohio River to the southwest on the McKees Rocks Bridge.

[edit] Bellevue to Leetsdale

The Sewickley Bridge seen from PA 65 in Sewickley.

Outside of Pittsburgh, PA 65 continues as the Ohio River Boulevard on its northwest course and passes through the following boroughs paralleling the Ohio River: Bellevue, Avalon, Ben Avon, and Emsworth. In Emsworth, PA 65 intersects the first terminus of the Green Belt at an intersection with Camp Horne Road. Upon exiting Emsworth, PA 65 returns to a divided highway and interchanges with Interstate 79 and the Yellow Belt at exit 66 in the borough of Glenfield.

West of I-79, PA 65 continues to parallel the Ohio River located to the south. Along the way, PA 65 passes through some boroughs like Haysville and Osborne. In the borough of Sewickley, PA 65 meets the long Orange Belt at Broad Street which crosses the Ohio River on the Sewickley Bridge and has direct access to PA Route 51. Leaving Sewickley, PA 65 crosses two more broughs (Edgeworth and Leetsdale) before exiting Allegheny County. In Leetsdale, PA 65 meets the first terminus of the Green Belt at an intersection involving Cross Street.

[edit] Beaver County

PA 65 crossing a bridge in Ellwood City.

Leaving Allegheny County and entering Beaver County, PA 65 traverses the borough of Ambridge. In Ambridge, PA 65 intersects the southern terminus of PA Route 989. When exiting Ambridge, PA 65 travels to the north paralleling the Ohio River as a divided road. In East Rochester, PA 65 starts a concurrency with PA Route 51, while in Rochester, PA 51/PA 65 intersect PA Route 18. At mile marker 25.1 in downtown Rochester, a major 4 route interchange takes place where PA 51 joins PA Route 68 and PA 65 continues to the north. In Rochester Township, PA 65 begins a concurrency with PA 18 as it enters the northbound lanes of PA 65 and exits on the southbound lanes.

PA 18/PA 65 continue northward paralleling the Beaver River. In New Brighton, the PA 18/PA 65 concurrency ends when PA 65 makes a 90 degree angle turn towards the northeast as 5th Street. After a couple of wide turns, PA 65 becomes Mercer Avenue later becoming Mercer Road outside of New Brighton. In North Sewickley Township, PA 65 intersects PA Route 588 then passes over Interstate 76 (Pennsylvania Turnpike). East of Ellwood City, PA 65 begins another concurrency with PA Route 288 into Ellwood City. On the south side of Ellwood City, PA 65/PA 288 curve to the north as 2nd Street.

[edit] Lawrence County

In downtown Ellwood City, PA 65/PA 288 intersect the eastern terminus of PA Route 351 just north of the Beaver - Lawrence county line. North of PA 351, PA 65/PA 288 meet the western terminus of PA Route 488; at the PA 488 junction, PA 65/PA 288 make a 90 degree angle turn to the west and another turn to the north. After crossing the Connoquenessing Creek, the PA 65/PA 288 concurrency comes to an end while PA 65 travels north as North Street, then turns to the east to become Line Avenue, and then shifts towards the north as New Castle Road then becoming Ellwood Road.

In Shenango Township, PA 65 intersects the southern terminus of PA Route 388 at a "Y" intersection. South of New Castle, PA 65 interchanges with U.S. Route 422. PA 65 enters the city of New Castle as East Washington Street traveling on a northwest course. At mile marker 50.8, PA 65 intersects U.S. Route 422 Business which was the former northern terminus of PA 65 until February of 2007. In downtown New Castle, PA 65 terminates at an intersection with PA Route 108 and PA Route 168 both signed as Croton Avenue.^[4]^[5]

[edit] History

[edit] Main history

The designation was applied to the current U.S. Route 62 alignment between Oil City and Ohio from 1928 to 1932. PA 65 was under construction from Mercer to Valley Road in 1928 and completed the following year. In 1961, PA 65 was signed in its current location replacing the previous PA Route 88 designation. In 1965, a median was installed between Freedom and Rochester.

In January of 1970, construction would being on the next section of Ohio River Boulevard from near the California Avenue/Marshall Avenue intersection to Pennsylvania Avenue. In 1973, a $ 16 million section opened to traffic with plans to continue the expressway to the Fort Duquesne Bridge.

In spring of 1987, construction on the $8 million Phase One project to connect the two sections of Ohio River Boulevard together began from Western Avenue to Allegheny Avenue. in In January of 1988, Phase Two of the project would begin, which would consist of a new interchange between the expressway and the West End Bridge. The bridge would be closed for two years while it underwent rehabilitation and new ramps were built at the northern end for the interchange. The southern terminus was moved from Western Avenue to I-279 when the missing section in Ohio River Boulevard was finally closed in 1992.^[1]

[edit] Connections with PA 88

While the two are nowhere near each other now, PA 65 and Pennsylvania Route 88 were once the same route. In 1961, the routes were split, with the northern portion (New Castle to Pittsburgh) gaining the 65 badging while the southern portion (Pittsburgh to Point Marion) retaining the 88 badging. This was done because the New Castle-to-Pittsburgh portion was dedicated to the 65th Infantry Division, and the 65 badging was in honor of that unit.

Although it has been nearly half a century since the rebadging was done, remnants of 65 being once part of PA Route 88 still show in the area. Four of PA 88's five spur routes (PA 288, PA 388, PA 488, & PA 588) are now spur routes of 65, but still retain the "88" base numbers. In addition, a drive-in known as Spotlight 88 in North Sewickley Township retained its name after the route was rebadged as 65, and is still known by that name as its current incarnation as a flea market after the drive-in was destroyed by an F3 tornado on May 31, 1985.^[6]^[1]

[edit] Ohio River Boulevard

Planning for Ohio River Boulevard started in the 1920s. In 1928, construction began on the boulevard that would run from Manchester to the Borough of Emsworth. The highway would be 40 feet wide and have many bridges over local roads. It would end at a traffic circle on the North Shore of the Ohio River at the McKees Rocks Bridge. The route that was built to relieve traffic and accidents on California Avenue was dedicated in August, 1931 at a final cost of $12 million.

As traffic on boulevard began to increase in the 1950s and 1960s, many plans were introduced to improve the highway. Ideas ranged from widening the highway to building a new expressway to current day I-79. During the 1960s, a southern extension of the boulevard to Pittsburgh's North Side was discussed and by 1973 the highway opened from the Fort Duquesne Bridge to Ridge Avenue and the McKees Rocks Bridge to Beaver Avenue and Chateau Street. Many of these proposals would fall to the wayside because of lack of funding and interest or community protest. The missing gap which includes a connection to the West End Bridge did not open until January, 1992.

By the 1970s, the Ohio River Boulevard section of PA 65 had become deadly trail. By the mid 1970s, The boulevard would become one of Pittsburgh's most dangerous roads. From November 7, 1979 to March of 1981, 15 people would were killed on the boulevard, eight of which occurred between the McKees Rocks Bridge and Manchester. The deadliest time was in 1980 when seven people were killed on the boulevard.^[2]

[edit] Northern terminus

Prior to February 2007, the northern terminus of PA 65 was at U.S. Route 422 Business a half-mile southeast of the current northern terminus at PA 108 and PA 168 (Croton Avenue). In February 2007, the route was extended northward from US 422 Business along East Washington Street to Croton Avenue.^[7]

[edit] Exit list

County	Location	Mile^[8]	Destinations	Notes
Southern terminus of PA 65. PA 65 southbound merges on to I-279 northbound.
Allegheny	Pittsburgh	0.00	I-279 north/ US 19 Truck north/to PA 28 (North Shore Expressway)	Southbound exit, northbound entrance.
		0.00	I-279 south/ US 19 Truck south (North Shore Expressway) Airport	Southbound exit, northbound entrance. To I-376 east.
		0.09	North Shore	Northbound exit, southbound entrance. to PNC Park, Heinz Field, and CCAC North Side Campus.
		0.64	US 19 south/ to PA 51 (West End Bridge) - Western Avenue, Chateau Street	Northbound sign.
		0.75	US 19 south/ to PA 51 (West End Bridge)	Southbound sign.
		US 19/ PA 65 have a concurrency for 0.60 miles.
		1.35	US 19 north (Marshall Avenue)	Northbound exit, southbound entrance.
		1.73	US 19 (Beaver Avenue) - Wexford	Southbound exit and entrance.
PA 65 continues north at-grade. (See table below).

[edit] Major intersections

County	Location	Mile	Roads intersected	Notes
Limited-access first 1.8 miles. (See exit list above).
Allegheny	Pittsburgh	2.90^[8]	Blue Belt (McKees Rocks Bridge)
	Emsworth	6.49	Green Belt (Camp Horne Road)	Terminus 1 of Green Belt.
	Glenfield	8.53	I-79/ Yellow Belt	Exit 66 (I-79).
	Sewickley	11.52	Orange Belt (Sewickley Bridge)	Connects to PA 51.
	Leetsdale	14.99	Red Belt (Cross Street)	Terminus 1 of Red Belt.
Beaver	Ambridge	15.97	PA 989	Southern terminus of PA 989.
	Ambridge	16.23	11th Street (Ambridge-Aliquippa Bridge)
	East Rochester	23.75	PA 51 (Monaca-East Rochester Bridge)	Southern terminus of concurrency.
	Rochester	24.92	PA 18 (Rochester-Monaca Bridge)
	Rochester	25.14	PA 51/ PA 68	Northern terminus of concurrency.
	Rochester Township	25.98	PA 18	Northbound merging of lanes. Southern terminus of concurrency.
	New Brighton	28.19	PA 18	Northern terminus of concurrency.
	North Sewickley Township	32.71	PA 588
		33.30	I-76 - Pa Tpk.	PA 65 passes over I-76/PA Turnpike.
		37.38	PA 288	Southern terminus of concurrency.
Lawrence	Ellwood City	38.31	PA 351	Eastern terminus od PA 351.
		38.60	PA 488	Western terminus of PA 488.
		39.09	PA 288	Northern terminus of concurrency.
	Shenango Township	44.80	PA 388	Southern terminus of PA 388.
	Shenango Township	48.97	US 422	Interchange.
	New Castle	50.85	US 422 BUS (Butler Avenue)	Former northern terminus of PA 65.
	New Castle	51.40	PA 108/ PA 168 (Croton Avenue)	Current northern terminus as of February, 2007.^[5]