Interstate 80 in Pennsylvania

This article is about the section of Interstate 80 in Pennsylvania. For the entire length of the highway, see Interstate 80.

Interstate 80
Route information
Maintained by PennDOT
Length:	311.07 mi (500.62 km)
Major junctions
West end:	I-80 at Ohio state line in Shenango Township
	I-376 near Sharon I-79 near Mercer US 322 near Brookville US 219 in Falls Creek I-99 / US 220 / PA 26 near Bellefonte I-180 / PA 147 in Milton I-81 in Hazleton I-476 / Penna. Tpk. near Hickory Run State Park I-380 in Tunkhannock Township
East end:	I-80 at New Jersey state line in Delaware Water Gap
Highway system
Main route of the Interstate Highway System Main • Auxiliary • Business Roads in Pennsylvania Interstate • US • State • Legislative ← PA 79 PA 80 →

The transcontinental Interstate 80 is designated across northern Pennsylvania as the Keystone Shortway, officially 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, with relatively flat areas playing home to the freeway toward the western tier of the state.

Route description

In Clearfield County, Interstate 80 reaches its highest elevation east of the Mississippi River, 2,250 ft., although other interstate highways east of the Mississippi, including I-26 in North Carolina and Tennessee, reach higher elevations. This point is just east of Exit 111. A sign prominently displays this unusual fact about the Interstate.

Interstate 80 intersects cities such as DuBois, Sharon, Hazleton, Stroudsburg, and many other cities.

History

I-80 near the exit for PA 611 in Stroudsburg.

Sign noting the highest point on I-80 east of the Mississippi River located in Clearfield County.

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 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. (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.) This was corrected the next year, as the Keystone Shortway became part of I-80, and the southern route became I-80S (later I-76) and I-78. I-84 was truncated to Scranton, and the Scranton-Stroudsburg connection became Interstate 81E (later renumbered Interstate 380).

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.

In 1993, exit 43 (now exit 284) 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.

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 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 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. 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 (1,600 km) 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. Tolling on I-80 would be completed by 2010. On October 15, 2007, the lease for the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission to toll I-80 was signed.

This plan faced opposition from Northern Pennsylvania politicians who fear tolls will hurt the economy in the region 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. 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.

On September 11, 2008, the Federal Highway Administration rejected Pennsylvania's application to toll Interstate 80 for the second time.

On April 6, 2010, the Federal Highway Administration rejected this application for the third time.

Exit list

County	Location	Exit		Destinations	Notes
		Old	New
Mercer	Shenango Township	1	4 A/B	I-376 east / PA 760 west – New Castle, Sharon
	East Lackawannock Township	2	15	US 19 – Mercer
	Findley Township		19 A/B	I-79 – Pittsburgh, Erie
	Worth Township	3A	24	PA 173 – Grove City, Sandy Lake
Venango	Barkeyville	3	29	PA 8 – Barkeyville, Franklin
	Clintonville	4	35	PA 308 – Clintonville
	Scrubgrass Township	5	42	PA 38 – Emlenton
Butler	No interchanges
Clarion	Emlenton	6	45	PA 478 south / PA 208 / PA 38 – St. Petersburg, Emlenton	Eastbound ramps access PA-478; westbound ramps access PA-38/PA-208 concurrency and are in Venango County.
	Beaver Township	7	53	To PA 338 – Knox	Connection to PA-338 via Canoe Ripple Road.
	Clarion Township	8	60	PA 66 north – Shippenville	PA-66 joins eastbound; leaves westbound.
		9	62	PA 68 – Sligo, Clarion
		10	64	PA 66 south – New Bethlehem, Clarion	PA-66 leaves eastbound, joins westbound.
		11	70	US 322 – Strattanville, Corsica
Jefferson	Corsica	12	73	PA 949 – Corsica
	Brookville	13	78	PA 36 – Brookville
	Pine Creek Township	14	81	PA 28 – Brookville, Brockway
	Winslow Township	15	86	Fuller Rd – Reynoldsville
			90	PA 830 east – DuBois Regional Airport
Clearfield	Sandy Township	16	97	US 219 – DuBois, Brockway
	Dubois	17	101	PA 255 – DuBois, Penfield
	Pine Township	18	111	PA 153 – Clearfield, Penfield
	Plymptonville	19	120	PA 879 – Clearfield, Shawville
	Lawrence Township	20	123	PA 970 to US 322 – Woodland, Shawville	Alternative eastbound route to State College and I-99 south.
	Cooper Township	21	133	PA 53 – Philipsburg, Kylertown
Centre	Snow Shoe	22	147	To PA 144 – Snow Shoe
	Boggs Township	23	158	PA 150 / US 220 Alt. south – Milesburg, Blanchard	Alt US-220 joins eastbound; leaves westbound.
	Spring Township	24	161	I-99 south / US 220 south / PA 26 – Bellefonte, Howard	Alt US-220 ends eastbound; begins westbound. US-220 joins eastbound; leaves westbound. Northern terminus (currently) of I-99.
Clinton	Porter Township	25	173	PA 64 – Pleasant Gap, Mill Hall
	Lamar Township	26	178	US 220 north – Lock Haven	US-220 leaves eastbound, enters westbound.
	Greene Township	27	185	PA 477 – Loganton, Salona
		28	192	To PA 880 – Loganton, Jersey Shore
Union	West Buffalo Township	29	199	Mile Run Road	Access to Bald Eagle State Forest.
	White Deer Township	30	210 A/B	US 15 – Lewisburg, Williamsport
Northumberland	Milton	31	212 B/A	PA 147 south / I-180 west – Milton, Muncy	Northern terminus of PA 147; eastern terminus of I-180.
	East Chillisquaque Township	32	215	PA 254 – Limestoneville
Montour	Valley Township	33	224	PA 54 – Danville, Washingtonville
Columbia	Buckhorn	34	232	PA 42 / US 11 / PA 44 – Bloomsburg, Millville, Buckhorn
	Bloomsburg	35	236	PA 487 – Bloomsburg, Lightstreet
	South Centre Township	36	241	US 11 – Lime Ridge, Berwick
	Main Township	37	242	PA 339 – Mainville, Mifflinville
Luzerne	Sugarloaf Township	38	256	PA 93 – Conyngham, Nescopeck
	Butler Township		260 A/B	I-81 – Harrisburg, Wilkes-Barre
		39	262	PA 309 – Hazleton, Mountain Top	Access to Nescopeck State Park.
	White Haven	40	273	PA 940 / PA 437 – Freeland, White Haven
Carbon	Kidder Township	41	274	PA 534 – Hickory Run State Park
		42	277	PA 940 To I-476 to Penna. Tpk. – Allentown, Wilkes-Barre	Pocono Exit of PA Turnpike Northeast Extension
Monroe	Tunkhannock Township	43	284	PA 115 – Brodheadsville, Blakeslee
	Jackson Township		293	I-380 north – Scranton	Southern terminus of I-380.
	Pocono Township	44	298	PA 611 – Scotrun	Eastbound entrance and westbound exit.
		45	299	PA 715 – Tannersville	Westbound entrance via Sullivan Trail.
	Hamilton Township	46	302 A/B	PA 33 south to US 209 south / PA 611 – Snydersville, Bartonsville	No westbound exit for PA-33/US-209 S (see exit 304), therefore not an AB exit westbound.
	Arlington Heights	47	303	PA 611 (Ninth Street) – Arlington Heights	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
		47A	304	US 209 south / PA 33 south – Snydersville	Eastbound entrance and westbound exit; US-209 joins eastbound, leaves westbound.
	Stroudsburg	48	305	US 209 Bus. (Main Street) – Stroudsburg
		49	306	Dreher Avenue – Stroudsburg	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
		50	307	PA 611 (Park Avenue) / PA 191 (Broad Street) – Stroudsburg	Eastbound exit to/from PA-611; westbound exit to/from PA-191
	East Stroudsburg	51	308	Prospect Street – East Stroudsburg
		52	309	US 209 north / PA 447 north – Marshalls Creek	US-209 leaves eastbound, joins westbound; southern terminus of PA-447.
	Delaware Water Gap	53	310	PA 611 – Delaware Water Gap	Welcome Center (westbound); potential commuter rail park & ride to New York City and Scranton via the Lackawanna Cutoff.
		Delaware Water Gap Toll Bridge over the Delaware River; Toll westbound.
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

External links

• I-80 Interchange Browser - Central PA/MD Roads

Interstate 80
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