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 183 near Strausstown PA 61 near Hamburg PA 100 in Fogelsville US 22 in Upper Macungie Township PA 309 from Dorneyville to Summit Lawn US 222 / PA 222 near Dorneyville PA 29 near Allentown PA 33 in Lower Saucon Township
East end:	I-78 at New Jersey state line in Williams Township
Location
Counties:	Lebanon, Berks, Lehigh, Northampton
Highway system
Interstate Highway System Main Auxiliary Suffixed Business Future Pennsylvania State Route System Interstate US State Scenic Byways Legislative ← PA 77 PA 78 → ← PA 177 I-178 PA 178 →

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

Route description

I-78 and US 22 eastbound in Berks County at mile marker 24.5.

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 connects to Pennsylvania Route 611. The Interstate crosses the Delaware River on the Interstate 78 Toll Bridge, leaving Pennsylvania for New Jersey. Tolls are only required on the westbound side, coming into Pennsylvania.

Names

Interstate 78 carries some additional name designations throughout Pennsylvania. In Lebanon County, Interstate 78 is known as the 78th Division Highway.^[2] In Berks County between mile marker 23 and mile marker 35, Interstate 78 is known as the CMSgt. Richard L. Etchberger Memorial Highway, in honor of Richard Etchberger.^[3] In Lehigh and Northampton counties, Interstate 78 is known as the Walter J. Dealtrey Memorial Highway.^[4] The portion concurrent with US Route 22 shares its designation of the William Penn Highway.

History

Construction of the freeway between Lebanon and Lehigh counties took place between 1950 and 1970, originally as an upgraded alignment of US 22. The entire I-78 route was completed by 1989. When the Interstate Highway System numbers were first assigned in 1957, the route was planned as I-80N.^[5] 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.^[6]

Interstate 178

Interstate 178 was a proposed spur from Interstate 78, but was cancelled because the Liberty Bell Shrine was in the path of the proposed expressway. Additionally, locals opposed the destruction of Sixth and Seventh Streets to accommodate the highway. The planned northern terminus would have been between the 15th Street and PA 145 interchanges.^[7] If built, Interstate 178 would have connected US 22, formerly designated I-78 into Allentown.^[8]

This route was shown in Rand McNally atlases in the late 1960s, but was not included in the 1971 federal interstate route log.^[9] The route was supposed to end near Muhlenberg College.^[10]

Interstate 378

Interstate 378 was the designation for a spur route that would extend from Interstate 78 into Bethlehem. At the time, I-78 was designated as the Lehigh Valley Thruway, concurrent with US 22, and the route numbering made sense. Unlike I-178, the route was built. When I-78 was later redirected south of this area, I-378 had no direct connection to I-78 and therefore was downgraded to state route status. The route still remains, as a freeway with exits and their own numbers. That is quite rare for a state route.

When Interstate 178 and 378 were planned (and 378 was built), I-78 ran the length of the Lehigh Valley Thruway. Later, I-78 was rerouted onto a bypass route south of the Thruway. This was due to opposition to continue the concurrency with the Thruway into New Jersey.

Improving I-78

In 2013, PennDOT announced plans to improve a portion of I-78 in eastern Berks County. The project will redesign the PA 737 interchange, add truck lanes, and raise the height of three overpasses. Construction is expected to begin in 2015 with completion in 2018.^[11]

Exit list

County	Location	mi[12]	km	Old exit [13]	New exit [13]	Destinations	Notes
Lebanon	Union Township	0.00	0.00	–	1A	I-81 south – Harrisburg	Exit 89 on I-81
		0.55	0.89	–	1B	I-81 north – Hazleton	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
	Bethel Township	5.85	9.41	1	6	PA 343 – Lebanon, Fredericksburg	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance; northern terminus of PA 343
		7.90	12.71	1	8	US 22 west to PA 343 – Lebanon, Fredericksburg	West end of concurrency with US 22, westbound exit and eastbound entrance
Berks	Bethel Township	10.21	16.43	2	10	PA 645 – Frystown
	Bethel	12.68	20.41	3	13	PA 501 – Bethel
	Bethel Township	14.67	23.61	4	15	Grimes	Access via Court Street (eastbound) and Frantz Road (westbound)
		15.40	24.78	5	16	Midway	Access via Midway Road, to Conrad Weiser Homestead
		16.58	26.68	6	17	PA 419 – Rehrersburg
	Strausstown	18.65	30.01	7	19	PA 183 – Strausstown
	Upper Bern Township	22.71	36.55	8	23	Shartlesville	Access via Mountain Road
	Tilden Township	29.11– 29.35	46.85– 47.23	9	29	PA 61 – Reading, Pottsville	Signed as exits 29A (south) and 29B (north) westbound
	Hamburg	30.19	48.59	10	30	Hamburg	Access via North 4th Street
	Greenwich Township	35.23	56.70	11	35	PA 143 – Lenhartsville
		40.27	64.81	12	40	PA 737 – Kutztown, Krumsville	To Kutztown University
Lehigh	Weisenberg Township	44.96	72.36	13	45	PA 863 – Lynnport, New Smithville
	Upper Macungie Township	49.26– 49.55	79.28– 79.74	14	49	PA 100 – Trexlertown, Fogelsville	Split into exits 49A (south) and 49B (north)
		50.89	81.90	15	51	US 22 east to I-476 / Penna Turnpike NE Extension / PA 309 north – LVI Airport	East end of concurrency with US 22; eastbound exit and westbound entrance
	South Whitehall Township	53.67	86.37	–	53	PA 309 north to Penna Turnpike NE Extension – Tamaqua	West end of concurrency with PA 309; westbound exit and eastbound entrance
		54.12– 54.51	87.10– 87.73	16	54	US 222 south / PA 222 north (Hamilton Boulevard)	Signed as exits 54A (south) and 54B (north) westbound, to Reading and Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom
	Salisbury Township	55.41	89.17	17	55	PA 29 (Cedar Crest Boulevard)
	Allentown	57.20	92.05	18	57	Lehigh Street
		57.63	92.75	18B	58	Emaus Avenue south	Westbound exit only
	Upper Saucon Township	58.83	94.68	19	59	To PA 145 – Summit Lawn	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance, access via Rock Road
		59.92	96.43	20A	60A	PA 309 south – Quakertown	East end of concurrency with PA 309; signed as exit 60 eastbound
		60.30	97.04	20B	60B	PA 145 north (South 4th Street)	Westbound exit only
Northampton	Hellertown	66.36	106.80	21	67	PA 412 – Hellertown, Bethlehem
	Lower Saucon Township	71.04	114.33	22	71	PA 33 north to US 22 – Stroudsburg	Southern terminus of PA 33; to Pocono Mountains and Lehigh Valley Airport
	Williams Township	75.00	120.70	23	75	To PA 611 – Easton, Philadelphia	Access via Cedarville Road
				Rest Area and Welcome Center (westbound only)
				Delaware River Toll Plaza (westbound only)
Delaware River		77.10	124.08	Interstate 78 Toll Bridge
				–	–	I-78 east – New York City	Continuation into New Jersey
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus       Incomplete access       Tolled

See also

• U.S. Roads portal
• Pennsylvania portal

References

External links

Route map: Google

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Interstate 78 in Pennsylvania.

• Interstate 78 exits in Pennsylvania

Interstate 78
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