Interstate 70 in Pennsylvania

Interstate 70
Route information
Maintained by Pennsylvania DOT
Length: 167.92 mi[1] (270.24 km)
Major junctions
West end: I-70 at the West Virginia state line
  I-79 in Washington
PA 43 in Fallowfield Township
PA 51 in Rostraver Township
in New Stanton
I-76 in New Stanton
I-99 / US 220 in Bedford
I-76/US 30 in Breezewood
US 522 near Warfordsburg
East end: I-70 at the Maryland state line
Highway system

Main route of the Interstate Highway System
Main • Auxiliary • Business

Roads in Pennsylvania
Interstate • US • State • Legislative

PA 69 PA 70
PA 125 PA 127

In the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, Interstate 70 runs east–west across the southwest part of the state serving the southern half of the Pittsburgh metropolitan area. About half of the route is concurrent with Interstate 76 along the Pennsylvania Turnpike (this is the oldest segment of I-70 in Pennsylvania, having been completed in 1940). I-70 is one of only a few Interstate Highways to have a traffic signal - in this case, with U.S. Route 30 at Breezewood, where it leaves the Turnpike and heads south towards Maryland.[2]

The portion of I-70 between Washington, Pennsylvania (immediately after it ends its brief concurrency with Interstate 79) and New Stanton, Pennsylvania falls well below modern Interstate Highway standards. This section, among other things, employs a jersey barrier in the very narrow median as well as very short entrance ramps at several interchanges, requiring a stop sign to be employed at these ramps instead of the typical yield sign. As the Pennsylvania Turnpike is grandfathered from Interstate standards as well as the aforementioned traffic signal in Breezewood, this makes the majority of I-70 not up to standards, with the short section south of Breezewood to Maryland as well as the 21-mile section from I-79 to West Virginia being the only sections of I-70 in Pennsylvania being up to Interstate standards.

I-70 crosses the Monongahela River on the Speers-Belle Vernon Bridge and the Youghiogheny River on the Smithton High Level Bridge.

History

By 1947, present Interstate 70 across Pennsylvania was included in the planned Interstate Highway System. The route from West Virginia split at Washington, with one branch heading northeast to meet the Pennsylvania Turnpike near Pittsburgh and the other heading east, bypassing Pittsburgh to the south (via a planned bypass of Pennsylvania Route 71) to the New Stanton interchange. The piece south from the Breezewood interchange into Maryland was also in the network.[3] The route between US 30 in Breezewood and US 522 in Warfordsburg was originally known as Pennsylvania Route 126. In 1957, preliminary numbers were assigned; the longer route via Pittsburgh (now Interstate 79 and Interstate 376) became the main line of I-70, while the southern bypass (now I-70) became Interstate 70S.[4] A southern extension of Interstate 79 (which had previously only run from Erie south to Pittsburgh) to Charleston, West Virginia in 1963 resulted in changes to I-70. On February 26, 1964, as part of the formation of Interstate 76 (east of downtown Pittsburgh), AASHTO approved a rerouting of I-70 along I-70S. The former I-70 became I-79 from Washington to downtown Pittsburgh and I-76 to and along the Turnpike to New Stanton.[5] This brought the routing of I-70 to its present form.

Exit list

County Location Mile[6] Exit Destinations Notes
Washington Donegal Township 0.89 1 West Alexander
5.65 6 To PA 231 – Claysville
Buffalo Township 11.00 11 PA 221 – Taylorstown
North Franklin Township 14.81 15 US 40 (Chestnut Street)
Canton Township 15.96 16 Jessop Place
Washington 16.65 17 PA 18 (Jefferson Avenue)
South Strabane Township 17.51 18 I-79 north – Pittsburgh West end of I-79 overlap
18.56 19 US 19 (Murtland Avenue) Signed as exits 19A (south) and 19B (north)
19.00 20 PA 136 (Beau Street)
21.02 21 I-79 south – Morgantown East end of I-79 overlap
Somerset Township 24.50 25 PA 519 – Eighty Four, Glyde
27.42 27 Dunningsville
30.50 31 Kammerer
32.54 32A PA 917 – Ginger Hill
Bentleyville 32.94 32B To PA 917 south – Bentleyville
Fallowfield Township 35.03 35 PA 481 – Monongahela, Centerville
36.43 36 Lover Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
37.46 37 Toll PA 43 – California, Pittsburgh Signed as exits 37A (south) and 37B (north)
Speers 39.74 39 Speers
40.19 40 PA 88 – Charleroi, Allenport
Westmoreland Rostraver Township 40.72 41 PA 906 – Belle Vernon, Monessen
North Belle Vernon 41.46 42 North Belle Vernon
Rostraver Township 42.13 42A Monessen Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
42.64 43 PA 201 to PA 837 (via Donora-Monessen Bridge) – Donora, Fayette City Signed as exits 43A (south) and 43B (north) westbound
44.10 44 Arnold City
46.36 46 PA 51 – Uniontown, Pittsburgh Signed as exits 46A (south) and 46B (north)
South Huntingdon Township 48.85 49 Smithton
51.13 51 PA 31 – Mt. Pleasant, West Newton Signed as exits 51A (east) and 51B (west)
53.19 53 Yukon
Sewickley Township 53.82 54 Madison
New Stanton 56.87 57A Hunker Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
56.95 57B New Stanton Signed as exit 57 eastbound
57.32 To US 119 / Toll PA 66 north – Greensburg, Connellsville, Delmont
I-76 west / Penna. Tpk. west – Pittsburgh, Cleveland West end of I-76 overlap
Donegal 91 PA 31 / PA 711 – Ligonier, Uniontown
Somerset Somerset 110 US 219 – Somerset, Johnstown
Bedford Bedford 146 I-99 / US 220 – Bedford, Altoona
East Providence Township 161 I-76 east / Penna. Tpk. east – Harrisburg East end of I-76 overlap
East end of freeway
US 30 east – McConnellsburg, Chambersburg, Gettysburg West end of US 30 overlap
147.05 147 US 30 west – Everett East end of US 30 overlap; at-grade intersection
West end of freeway
Fulton 148.68 149 To US 30 west – Everett, South Breezewood No westbound entrance
Brush Creek Township 151.16 151 PA 915 – Crystal Spring
155.75 156 PA 643 – Town Hill
Union Township 163.21 163 PA 731 south – Amaranth
Bethel Township 167.93 168 US 522 north – Warfordsburg West end of US 522 overlap

References

  1. ^ Route Log - Main Routes of the Eisenhower National System Of Interstate and Defense Highways - Table 1
  2. ^ Manuel Roig-Franzia, "The Town That Stops Traffic: Travelers Encounter Way Station as Way of Life in Breezewood," Washington Post, 22 November 2001, B1.
  3. ^ National System of Interstate Highways, August 2, 1947
  4. ^ Official Route Numbering for the National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, August 14, 1957
  5. ^ Ask the Rambler, Was I-76 Numbered to Honor Philadelphia for Independence Day, 1776?
  6. ^ Calculated using DeLorme Street Atlas USA 2007 software
Interstate 70
Previous state:
West Virginia
Pennsylvania Next state:
Maryland