Interstate 78 in Pennsylvania

Interstate 78
Route information
Maintained by PennDOT & DRJTBC
Length:	75.23 mi[1] (121.07 km)
Major junctions
West end:	I-81 in Union Township.
	US 22 in Union Township. PA 61 near Hamburg I-476/PA Tpk in Upper Macungie Township. PA 309 from Dorneyville to Summit Lawn PA 33 in Bethlehem Township.
East end:	I-78 in Williams Township.
Highway system
Main route of the Interstate Highway System Main • Auxiliary • Business Roads in Pennsylvania Interstate • US • State • Legislative ← PA 77 PA 78 →

Interstate 78 is an east–west route stretching from Union Township, Lebanon County, Pennsylvania to New York City. In the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, I-78 runs for about 77 miles (124 km) in Pennsylvania, from the western terminus at Interstate 81 to New Jersey state line; I-78 continues into New Jersey.

Contents 1 Route description 2 History 2.1 February 2007 3 Exit list 4 See also 5 References 6 External links

Route description

I-78 starts in Pennsylvania at an interchange with Interstate 81. It merges with U.S. Route 22 in Lebanon County, with the median strip becoming narrow at that point; the two run together for 43 miles (69 km) from Bethel Township to Kuhnsville. Near Kuhnsville, U.S. Route 22 splits off from I-78 and becomes the Lehigh Valley Thruway. Near Hamburg at mile marker 29, it meets a major Pennsylvania route: Pennsylvania Route 61. At mile marker 53, after the departure of US 22, Pennsylvania Route 309 merges with I-78 for 7 miles (11 km). Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom is visible from the freeway approaching exit 54 for U.S. Route 222, which leads to the park. In Summit Lawn, State Route 309 leaves the freeway toward Quakertown at exit 60. Past Allentown and Bethlehem, Pennsylvania Route 33 meets I-78 at exit 71. The last exit in Pennsylvania is Exit 75/Morgan Hill Road, which takes one to Pennsylvania Route 611. The Interstate crosses the Delaware River on the Interstate 78 Toll Bridge, leaving Pennsylvania for New Jersey.

History

Although built to modern-day Interstate Highway standards east of Pennsylvania Route 100, I-78 between PA Rt. 100 and the Berks-Lebanon county line was built mainly to 1960s standards, has characteristic soft shoulders in most locations, and, despite its rural location, a 55 mph (89 km/h) speed limit that is heavily enforced by the Pennsylvania State Police. Prior to the late 1960s, I-78 was to be routed on the Lehigh Valley Thruway across to Phillipsburg, New Jersey, continuing the concurrency with US Route 22; however, because of heavy opposition by residents of Phillipsburg, PennDOT and NJDOT opted to build the new southerly alignment on which I-78 is routed today.

February 2007

On February 14, 2007, I-78 was closed from Pennsylvania Route 100 in Fogelsville to the U.S. Route 22 split in Union Township because of a winter storm that caused two tractor-trailers to make the highway impassable. Other roads such as I-80 and I-81 were also closed. Some passengers were stuck on I-78 for more than 20 hours. Governor Ed Rendell apologized to the hundreds of drivers who were stuck on I-78. The governor said that the I-78 mess was unacceptable and that those responsible for clearing the road had communicated poorly. I-78 reopened on February 17.^[2]

Exit list

County	Location	Mile[3]	Exit		Destinations	Notes
			Old
Lebanon	Union Township	0.00		1A	I-81 south – Harrisburg	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
		0.55		1B	I-81 north – Hazleton	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
	Bethel Township	5.85	1	6	PA 343 – Lebanon, Fredericksburg	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance; northern terminus of PA 343
		7.90	1	8	US 22 west to PA 343 – Lebanon, Fredericksburg	West end of US 22 overlap; westbound exit and eastbound entrance
Berks	Bethel Township	10.21	2	10	PA 645 – Frystown
	Bethel	12.68	3	13	PA 501 – Bethel
	Bethel Township	14.67	4	15	Grimes	No access across I-78. No tractor trailers.
		15.40	5	16	Midway	To Conrad Weiser Homestead
		16.58	6	17	PA 419 – Rehrersburg
	Strausstown	18.65	7	19	PA 183 – Strausstown
	Upper Bern Township	22.71	8	23	Shartlesville
	Tilden Township	29.11- 29.35	9	29	PA 61 – Reading, Pottsville	Signed as exits 29A (south) and 29B (north) on the westbound side
	Hamburg	30.19	10	30	Hamburg
	Greenwich Township	35.23	11	35	PA 143 – Lenhartsville
		40.27	12	40	PA 737 – Kutztown, Krumsville	To Kutztown University
Lehigh	Weisenberg Township	44.96	13	45	PA 863 – Lynnport, New Smithville
	Upper Macungie Township	49.26	14	49A	PA 100 south – Trexlertown
		49.55	14	49B	PA 100 north – Fogelsville
		50.89	15	51	US 22 east to I-476 / Penna. Tpk. / PA 309 north – LVI Airport	East end of US 22 overlap; eastbound exit and westbound entrance
	South Whitehall Township	53.67	15	53	PA 309 north to Penna. Tpk. – Tamaqua	West end of PA 309 overlap; westbound exit and eastbound entrance
		54.12- 51.51	16	54	US 222 south (Hamilton Boulevard, PA 222 north)	Signed as exits 54A (south) and 54B (north) westbound. To Reading and Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom
		55.41	17	55	PA 29 (Cedar Crest Boulevard)
	Allentown	57.20	18A	57	Lehigh Street
		57.63	18B	58	Emaus Avenue south	Westbound exit only
	Summit Lawn	58.83	19	59	To PA 145 – Summit Lawn	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
		59.92	20A	60A	PA 309 south – Quakertown	East end of PA 309 overlap; signed as exit 60 eastbound
		60.30	20B	60B	PA 145 north (South 4th Street)	Westbound exit only
Northampton	Hellertown	66.36	21	67	PA 412 – Hellertown, Bethlehem
	Bethlehem Township	71.04		71	PA 33 north to US 22 – Stroudsburg	To Pocono Mountains and Lehigh Valley International Airport
	Williams Township	75.00	22	75	To PA 611 – Easton, Philadelphia
		77.10	Interstate 78 Toll Bridge over the Delaware River

See also

• Interstate 78
• Interstate 78 in New Jersey
• Interstate 81 in Pennsylvania
• U.S. Route 22 in Pennsylvania
• Interstate 78 Toll Bridge

References

External links

• Interstate 78 exits in Pennsylvania

Interstate Highways in Pennsylvania Current 70 76 176 276 376 476 676 78 79 279 579 80 180 380 81 83 283 84 86 90 95 99 Unbuilt 695 895 Former 876 479 180 280 480 680 81E Future 576 195

Roads in the Susquehanna Valley Beltway Capital Beltway Interstate Highways Pennsylvania Turnpike (I-76) I-78 I-81 I-83 I-283 U.S. Routes US 11 US 15 US 22 US 30 US 209 US 222 US 322 US 422 Limited-access Pennsylvania Routes PA 283 PA 581 SR 3032 Other Pennsylvania Routes PA 17 PA 23 PA 25 PA 34 PA 39 PA 72 PA 74 PA 94 PA 114 PA 117 PA 147 PA 174 PA 225 PA 230 PA 233 PA 235 PA 241 PA 274 PA 325 PA 340 PA 341 PA 343 PA 419 PA 441 PA 443 PA 462 PA 465 PA 501 PA 533 PA 641 PA 645 PA 696 PA 722 PA 743 PA 772 PA 849 PA 850 PA 897 PA 934 PA 944 PA 997 PA 999 Other Quadrant Routes SR 3015 SR 3020 Other notable roads Chocolate Avenue Derry Street Paxton Street

Transportation infrastructure of the Lehigh Valley Interstates I-78 (PA·NJ) · I-476 U.S. Routes US 22 (PA·NJ) · US 209 · US 222 Pennsylvania Routes PA 29 · PA 33 · PA 100 · PA 143 · PA 145 · PA 191 · PA 212 · PA 222 · PA 248 · PA 309 · PA 329 · PA 378 · PA 412 · PA 512 · PA 611 · PA 863 · PA 873 · PA 946 · PA 987 New Jersey Routes NJ 57 · NJ 122 County Routes CR 519 · CR 579 Named roads/streets Bethlehem Pike · Cedar Crest Boulevard · Lehigh Street · Tilghman Street · Union Boulevard Bridges Albertus L. Meyers Bridge  · Hill to Hill Bridge  · Philip J. Fahy Memorial Bridge  · Minsi Trail Bridge  · Easton–Phillipsburg Toll Bridge  · Northampton Street Bridge  · Interstate 78 Toll Bridge Tunnels Lehigh Tunnel Public transportation Lehigh and Northampton Transportation Authority (Bethlehem Loop)  · Trans-Bridge Lines  · NJ Transit Airports Lehigh Valley International Airport · Allentown Queen City Municipal Airport Waterways Lehigh Canal · Delaware Division of the Pennsylvania Canal · Lehigh River · Delaware River · Monocacy Creek · Little Lehigh Creek · Jordan Creek Rail Conrail · Norfolk Southern Railway

Interstate 78
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