Interstate 80 in Pennsylvania
Interstate 80 in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania runs for across the northern part of the state. It is designated as the Keystone Shortway, and officially as the Z.H. Confair Memorial Highway. 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, while the route passes through relatively flat areas toward the western part of the state.
Route description
Interstate 80 serves many smaller cities in central to northern Pennsylvania including Sharon, Clarion, DuBois, Bellefonte, Lock Haven, Milton, Bloomsburg, Hazleton, and Stroudsburg. It also passes close but never into four slightly larger cities–Williamsport, State College, Scranton, and Wilkes-Barre. The entire route in Pennsylvania is within a rural setting.Western Pennsylvania
From the state of Ohio, I-80 enters the Western Pennsylvania area which encompasses Mercer, Venango, Butler, Clarion, Jefferson, and Clearfield Counties. In Mercer County, I-80 intersects I-376 in Shenango and I-79 in Findley Township. Jefferson County at mile marker 73 is known for the city of Punxsutawney, the location of the famous groundhog Punxsutawney Phil who predicts the weather on Groundhog Day. In Clearfield County, I-80 passes by the city of Dubois at mile marker 101. East of exit 111, I-80 reaches its highest elevation east of the Mississippi River,. A sign prominently displays this fact about the Interstate.North Central Pennsylvania
I-80 enters Centre County around mile marker 138 and intersects I-99 at exit 161, the main connecting point to the Pennsylvania Turnpike and Pennsylvania State University. US 220 is concurrent between exits 161 and 178 where it heads towards Lock Haven, home to the Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania.Around mile marker 191, Pennsylvania Route 880 follows a parallel alignment within the median between the eastbound and westbound lanes for a half-mile, an unusual arrangement in Pennsylvania. It is common to see horse-drawn carriages from the nearby Amish communities travelling this highway-within-a-highway.
At mile marker 199, I-80 approaches the Williamsport area, the venue of the Little League World Series in Lycoming County, while passing through Union County. I-80 intersects I-180 at exit 212.
Northeastern Pennsylvania
I-80 enters the Northeastern Pennsylvania area to include points Northumberland County and east to New Jersey. In Montour County at mile marker 224, it approaches the Bloomsburg area, home to the Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania. I-80 also passes by the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton area in Luzerne County. At exit 260, a connection can be made via I-81 to Harrisburg to the south and Wilkes-Barre and Syracuse, New York to the north.I-80 intersects I-476 at exit 277 in Carbon County for connections to Allentown and Philadelphia to the south. Exit 277 also serves PA 940 and Hickory Run State Park. Just east of the PA Turnpike, I-80 crosses into Monroe County. Exit 284 connects to PA 115 near Blakeslee and Lake Harmony. Exit 293 is an interchange with I-380 near Pocono Pines for a connection to I-84 to New England and Scranton towards the north. Between exits 293 and 298, there is a rest area on the eastbound side with public restrooms and picnic tables, but no food or gas.
Around exit 298, I-80 approaches the Stroudsburg and East Stroudsburg areas, a more suburban and populated region home to the East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania and the ski resort areas of the eastern Pocono Mountains. Stroudsburg is also the seat for Monroe County. PA 611 follows I-80 closely through the area between exits 298 and 310, acting as a local alternative. Exit 298 is only a westbound exit and eastbound entrance, connecting to PA 611 in Scotrun. Exit 299 serves PA 715 in Tannersville, as well as a local outlet mall. Exit 302 on the eastbound side and exit 304 on the westbound side connect to PA 33 and US 209, which connect to Easton and Allentown towards the south. Exit 302 in both directions also serves PA 611 in Bartonsville. I-80 and US 209 are concurrent with each other through most of Stroudsburg and East Stroudsburg, between exits 304 and 309. Exit 303 is an only eastbound exit and westbound entrance that connects to PA 611, serving Arlington Heights. Exits 305, 306, and 307 all serve downtown Stroudsburg, with exit 305 serving US 209 Business and exit 307 serving PA 611 and PA 191, the three main local thoroughfares through the town. Exit 308 serves downtown East Stroudsburg and the East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania. I-80 splits with US 209 at exit 309, which also serves PA 447. Shortly after at exit 310, PA 611 intersects I-80 for the last time before starting its southerly route down the Delaware River, gradually moving away from I-80. I-80 continues east into the Delaware Water Gap, entering the state of New Jersey via the Delaware Water Gap Toll Bridge, with eastbound signage pointing towards New York City.
History
The corridor now served by I-80 was originally to be a branch of the Pennsylvania Turnpike from Sharon to Stroudsburg. Planning was shifted to the Pennsylvania Department of Highways in 1956 with the passage of the National Interstate and Defense Highways Act.In early plans for the Interstate Highway System, the connection across northern Pennsylvania would have paralleled U.S. Route 6N and US 6 from what became I-90 near West Springfield, Pennsylvania east to Scranton. From Scranton a route went southeast along US 611 to the Stroudsburg area, and then east along US 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. 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 I-84, while the Scranton-New York route became I-82. This was corrected the next year, as the Keystone Shortway became part of I-80, the turnpike west of Harrisburg became I-80S, and I-80N became I-78. I-84 was truncated to Scranton, and the Scranton-Stroudsburg connection became I-81E.
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 US 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.
In 1993, exit 43 of I-80, which serves the Pocono Raceway, was designated the Richard Petty Interchange in honor of the NASCAR legend that drove the #43 car.
On March 7, 2011, the supporting wall on the eastbound I-80 bridge over Sullivan Trail in Tannersville collapsed from snow and rain. As a result, eastbound I-80 was reduced to one lane and Sullivan Trail was closed.
On July 10, 2014, a criminal rock throwing incident known as the Interstate 80 rock throwing took place along I-80 in Union County, critically injuring and permanently disfiguring a passenger. Four local youths were responsible.
Toll proposal
In an effort to keep the Pennsylvania Turnpike system under public control, in June 2007, the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission proposed tolling I-80 as a means of raising transportation revenue. It sought the permission to put tolls on the highway through a Federal Highway Administration pilot program that allowed three states to place tolls on Interstates. Missouri and Virginia had already taken two of the spots. Under the plan, the PTC would assume all maintenance and toll-taking operations on I-80. The plan called for up to ten toll plazas along the length of I-80 in Pennsylvania with a toll rate of, which would have been comparable to the rate on the Pennsylvania Turnpike following a projected toll increase. Currently, the only toll on I-80 in Pennsylvania is the westbound toll at the Delaware Water Gap Toll Bridge between Pennsylvania and New Jersey. On October 15, 2007, the lease for the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission to toll I-80 was signed, and tolls were to be implemented by 2010.This plan faced opposition from Northern Pennsylvania politicians who feared tolls would hurt the economy in the region and who did not want their tolls going toward funding mass transit. Congressmen John E. Peterson and Phil English proposed a federal transportation bill that would ban the tolling of I-80. The chief executive officer of the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission promised that the tolls would be used on highway projects in Pennsylvania and not on mass transit.
On December 12, 2007, the FHWA rejected the plan, and returned Pennsylvania's application for tolling I-80 with "fourteen items identified as insufficient by the FHWA", including a statement that revenue from tolls on I-80 was proposed to be used for purposes other than maintenance of I-80, contrary to the FHWA program requirements.
On September 11, 2008, the FHWA rejected Pennsylvania's application to toll I-80 a second time, stating: "There is simply no evidence that the lease payments are related to the actual costs of acquiring an interest in the facility.”
On April 6, 2010, the FHWA rejected the application for the third time, with the statement: "We based today's decision on what is allowable under federal law. The Interstate System Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Pilot Program requires that revenue from tolls be used only to improve the tolled facility, in this case I-80, and not be directed toward other state funding needs or transportation projects elsewhere in the state, as is the case in the Pennsylvania application."
Future
I-99 interchange
PennDOT has plans to build a high-speed interchange connecting I-99 to I-80 near Bellefonte. The new interchange will eliminate local access between PA 26 and I-80, which will be provided by a new exit 2 miles to the east. The first phase of the project will build the local access interchange between PA 26 and I-80. Bidding on the local access interchange is planned to begin on April 23, 2020 and construction is expected to be finished in December 2021. The local access interchange between PA 26 and I-80 will be funded by a $34 million federal grant. The second phase of the project will make improvements to Jacksonville Road between the new interchange and the junction between I-80 along with building the high-speed interchange between I-80 and I-99. Bidding on the second phase is planned to begin in March 2022, with the improvements to Jacksonville Road to be finished by December 2023 and the high-speed interchange to be completed by December 2025.Stroudsburg widening
Due to increasing suburbanization and a rapidly increasing population in the Stroudsburg area, I-80 is to be widened to three lanes in each direction from its current two between I-380 in Pocono Pines and the Delaware Water Gap Bridge. The first part of the project, which has a completion date of 2023, has been approved by PennDOT and USDOT and is in the final design phase. The project will widen I-80 to three lanes in each direction between exit 303 and exit 308, as well as reconstruct all interchanges included in this part of the project. This section of road was built in the 1950s and is one of the oldest stretches of Interstate highway in the US, starting out as a simple bypass of Stroudsburg for US 209 before becoming part of I-80. It has one of the highest accident rates in Pennsylvania due to major issues such as most entrances not having acceleration lanes, multiple overpasses that are structurally deficient, and shoulders that are as narrow as one tenth the required length for Interstate highways. Exits 304 and 305 on the westbound side are so close together that they are only a quarter of the length apart required between exits, according to Interstate standards. Exits 303, 304, and 306 all do not provide full access, confusing drivers and causing congestion. The project faces many challenges, as I-80 is a designated route for the Department of Defense, so all lanes have to be open during construction. In addition, this stretch of highway has large local usage, with 48% of drivers that enter at exit 307 getting off at either exit 306 or exit 305, so most of the current connections must be preserved to prevent local opposition.The details of the project include widening I-80 to three lanes in each direction between exit 303 and exit 308 and rebuilding exits 303, 304, 305, 307, and 308. Exits 303, 304, and 305 will all be completely demolished and combined to create full access between I-80, US 209, US 209 Business, and PA 611. The fate of exit 306 is still up for debate, with one design removing the exit entirely and one keeping it as is with minor improvements. Exits 307 and 308 will both be reconstructed, but only with minor improvements. Construction is scheduled to start soon.