Interstate 80 in Pennsylvania

Infobox road
state=PA
route=80
type=I


length_mi=311.07
length_round=2
length_ref= [ [http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/reports/routefinder/table1.htm Route Log - Main Routes of the Eisenhower National System Of Interstate and Defense Highways - Table 1] ]
year_established=
direction_a=West
terminus_a=Jct|state=OH|I|80 at Ohio state line
junction=Jct|state=PA|I|79 near Mercer
Jct|state=PA|US|322 near Brookville
Jct|state=PA|US|219 in Falls Creek
Jct|state=PA|US|220 near Marion
Jct|state=PA|I|180|PA|147 in Milton
Jct|state=PA|I|81 in Hazleton
Jct|state=PA|I|476|PATP| near Hickory Run State Park
Jct|state=PA|I|380 in Tunkhannock
direction_b=East
terminus_b=Jct|state=NJ|I|80 at New Jersey state line
previous_type=PA
previous_route=79
next_type=PA
next_route=80
commons=categoryThe transcontinental Interstate 80 is designated across northern Pennsylvania as the Keystone Shortway. This route was built mainly along a completely new alignment, not paralleling any earlier U.S. Routes, as a shortcut to the tolled Pennsylvania Turnpike and New York State Thruway. It does not serve any major cities in Pennsylvania, and serves mainly as a cross-state route on the Ohio-New York City corridor. Most of I-80's path across the state goes through hilly and mountainous terrain, with relatively flat areas playing home to the freeway toward the western tier of the state.

History

. [http://www.pahighways.com/interstates/I80.html Pennsylvania Highways: Interstate 80] ]

In early plans for the Interstate Highway System, the connection across northern Pennsylvania would have paralleled U.S. Route 6N and U.S. Route 6 from what became Interstate 90 near West Springfield, Pennsylvania east to Scranton. (From Scranton east to Hartford, Connecticut, Interstate 84 was built parallel to US 6.) From Scranton a route went southeast along U.S. Route 611 to the Stroudsburg area, and then east along U.S. Route 46 to near New York City. On May 22, 1957, a request by Pennsylvania to move the corridor south was approved by the Federal Highway Administration. [Ask the Rambler - [http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructure/i76.htm Was I-76 Numbered to Honor Philadelphia for Independence Day, 1776?] ] (The Scranton-Stroudsburg connection was kept, and the new alignment merged with it west of Stroudsburg.) However, when the initial numbers were assigned later that year, they were drawn on a 1947 map, and so the corridor across northern Pennsylvania became part of Interstate 84, while the Scranton-New York route became Interstate 82. (I-80 ran along the Pennsylvania Turnpike - later Interstate 80S - to Harrisburg, where it split into I-80S to Philadelphia and I-80N (later Interstate 78) to New York.) []

The first section of present I-80 to open was the Delaware Water Gap Toll Bridge, opened December 16, 1953. This had been built as part of U.S. Route 611 and connected back to its old alignment soon after crossing into Pennsylvania. Construction on the rest of I-80 began in 1959 and was completed in 1970.

Toll proposal

In an effort to keep the Pennsylvania Turnpike system under public control, in June 2007, the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission proposed tolling Interstate 80 as a means of raising transportation revenue. It is seeking the permission to put tolls on the highway through a Federal Highway Administration pilot program that allows three states to place tolls on interstates. Missouri's Interstate 70 and Virginia have already taken two of the spots.cite web |last=Nussbaum |first=Paul |title=I-80 toll plan is kicked back |publisher=The Philadelphia Inquirer |date=December 14, 2007 |url=http://www.philly.com/philly/news/homepage/12499696.html] Under the plan, the PTC would assume all maintenance and tolling operations on I-80. The plan calls for up to ten toll plazas along the length of I-80 in Pennsylvania with a toll rate of 8 cents per mile, which would be comparable to the rate on the Pennsylvania Turnpike following a projected toll increase.cite web |last=Nussbaum |first=Paul |title=I-80 toll plans moving forward |publisher=The Philadelphia Inquirer |date=October 17, 2007 |url=http://www.philly.com/philly/news/homepage/10595797.html] Originally, I-80 was part of the PTC's 1,000 Mile Turnpike system, but with the passage of the Interstate Highway Act in 1954, the PTC abandoned the 1,000-mile system and only maintained the original east-west Turnpike and its Northeastern Extension. Currently the only toll on I-80 in Pennsylvania is at the Delaware Water Gap bridge between Pennsylvania and New Jersey. [cite web|url=http://www.paturnpike.com/PPP/Senate_transportation_committee.aspx|publisher=Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission|title=Senate Transportation Committee|accessdate=2007-07-13] Tolling on I-80 would be completed by 2010. [cite web|url=http://www.whptv.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=6e3df806-b0d2-4469-b2ba-41e6eda8ebe9&rss=50|publisher=WHP-TV|title=Transportation Funding|accessdate=2007-07-19] On October 15, 2007, the lease for the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission to toll I-80 was signed.cite web |last=Nussbaum |first=Paul |title=I-80 toll plans moving forward |publisher=The Philadelphia Inquirer |date=October 17, 2007 |url=http://www.philly.com/philly/news/homepage/10595797.html]

This plan faces opposition from Northern Pennsylvania politicians who fear tolls will hurt the economy in the region [cite web |last=Nussbaum |first=Paul |title=Interest to lease turnpike is broad |publisher=The Philadelphia Inquirer |date=October 2, 2007 |url=http://www.philly.com/philly/news/local/10173016.html] and who do not want their tolls going toward funding mass transit. Congressmen John E. Peterson and Phil English have proposed a federal transportation bill that would ban the tolling of I-80. The chief executive officer of the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission has promised that the tolls would be used on highway projects in Pennsylvania and not on mass transit. [cite web |last=Nussbaum |first=Paul |title=I-80 tolls not for mass transit |publisher=The Philadelphia Inquirer |date=October 4, 2007 |url=http://www.philly.com/philly/news/local/10226701.html] On December 12, 2007, the FHWA rejected the plan, and returned Pennsylvania's application for tolling I-80 with questions stating why the state should place tolls on the highway. cite web |last=Nussbaum |first=Paul |title=I-80 toll plan is kicked back |publisher=The Philadelphia Inquirer |date=December 14, 2007 |url=http://www.philly.com/philly/news/homepage/12499696.html]

On September 11, 2008, the Federal Highway Administration rejected Pennsylvania's application to toll Interstate 80 for the second time. [ [http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/pressroom/fhwa0820.htm Federal Highway Administration press release, September 11, 2008 ] ]

Exit list

References

External links

* [http://www.m-plex.com/roads/int/i80pa.html I-80 Interchange Browser - Central PA/MD Roads]