Interstate 476

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Route information
Length	131.37 mi (211.42 km)
Existed	1964–present
Major junctions
Major intersections	US 1 near Springfield US 30 in Villanova I-76 in West Conshohocken I-276/PA Turnpike in Plymouth Meeting I-78 via US 22 near Allentown US 209 near Lehighton I-80 near Hickory Run State Park
Location
Country	United States
State	Pennsylvania
Highway system
Interstate Highway System Main Auxiliary Suffixed Business Future Pennsylvania State Route System Interstate US State Scenic Legislative
← PA 475 → PA 477
← PA 8 → PA 10 ← → PA 481 ← PA 492 → PA 501

Interstate 476 is a 131 mile long Interstate Highway that travels between Interstate 95 near Chester, Pennsylvania and Interstate 81 near Scranton, Pennsylvania, serving as the primary north-south Interstate corridor through eastern Pennsylvania. It consists of both the approximately 21 mile Mid-County Expressway (locally referred to as the Blue Route) through the suburban Philadelphia counties of Delaware and Montgomery, and the 110 mile Northeast Extension of the Pennsylvania Turnpike connecting the Philadelphia metropolitan area with the Lehigh Valley, the Poconos, and the Scranton-Wilkes-Barre metropolitan area.

While proposed as early as 1929, the construction of the Mid-County Expressway through Delaware County, Pennsylvania was not completed until 1992 due to massive community and environmental opposition during the freeway revolts of the 1960s and 1970s, leading The Philadelphia Inquirer to dub it "the most costly, most bitterly opposed highway in Pennsylvania history."

Following the completion of the Mid-County Expressway, in 1996 the Interstate 476 designation was extended to include the entire length of the existing Northeast Extension, making I-476 the longest auxiliary Interstate highway in the United States.

Route description

Major cities Bolded cities are officially-designated control cities for signs
Chester Philadelphia Conshohocken Plymouth Meeting Allentown Wilkes-Barre Scranton Clarks Summit

Chester to Plymouth Meeting

The portion of Interstate 476 between Interstate 95 and Interstate 276, running north-south through Delaware County, Pennsylvania, is officially known as the Mid-County Expressway and the Veterans Memorial Highway, as well as by its ubiquitous nickname, the Blue Route. The road begins at Interstate 95 near the southwest Philadelphia suburb of Chester, near Philadelphia International Airport.

Heading north, the road immediately narrows to a four-lane parkway north of Exit 1, a reduced design built due to local environmental concerns. The route winds through the western Philadelphia suburbs of Wallingford, Swarthmore, and Springfield, meeting U.S. Route 1 at a massive three-level diamond interchange.

At Pennsylvania Route 3, the route widens to six lanes, bisecting the famous Main Line at U.S. Route 30, and interchanging with the Interstate 76, the Schuylkill Expressway, at Conshohocken. After crossing the Schuylkill River, the freeway comes to an end at the Mid-County toll barrier with the Pennsylvania Turnpike in Plymouth Meeting.

Plymouth Meeting to Clarks Summit

Beyond the toll barrier, Interstate 476 enters the Pennsylvania Turnpike system, interchanging with Interstate 276 and continuing north as the Northeast Extension of the Pennsylvania Turnpike. The route continues through the Philadelphia suburbs, past Lansdale and Quakertown, and into the Lehigh Valley metropolitan area. It interchanges with U.S. Route 22 near Allentown, which also offers an indirect connection to Pennsylvania Route 309 and Interstate 78.

North of Allentown, the route enters the Poconos, tunneling underneath Blue Mountain, and meeting U.S. Route 209 near Lehighton. Continuing through the mountains, it cuts through Hickory Run State Park, interchanging with Interstate 80 on the perimeter on its way to the end of the toll ticket system at Bear Creek, Pennsylvania.

North of the toll barrier, the route meets Pennsylvania Route 115, which provides access to nearby Wilkes-Barre. Near Pittston, an interchange provides an indirect connection to Interstate 81 through Scranton. The route then crosses the Wyoming Valley and skirts around Scranton, with an exit to local Keyser Avenue. North of Scranton, the route comes to an abrupt end at a hairpin curve in Clarks Summit, with connections to Interstate 81, U.S. Route 6 and U.S. Route 11.

History

Mid-County Expressway

Originally planned as far back as 1929, the Mid-County Expressway was later proposed by the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission as the "Chester Extension" of the Pennsylvania Turnpike in 1954. After the advent of the Interstate Highway System, the project was transferred to the Pennsylvania Department of Highways to be built as part of the system, designating it first as Interstate 495, and later as Interstate 480, as I-76 was designated as I-80S at the time. The present-day I-476 designation was assigned in 1964 when I-80S was renumbered as I-76.

File:I476 Blue Route Map.jpg

The birth of the "Blue Route" nickname. (This map is oriented with east at the top.)

The road received its ubiquitous nickname from a 1958 location report indicating various proposed geographic configurations of an expressway through Delaware County with lines of various colors on a map. The "blue route" through the Crum Creek valley won out over other contenders, which included a more easterly "red route" and "yellow route" and a more westerly "green route".

As one of the most controversial Interstate Highways in Pennsylvania, construction of I-476 began in 1967, but was not completed until 1992, due to litigation between the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation and several communities in the road's path over environmental concerns. An agreement in 1985 led to many environmental compromises in the road's design, including a downsized four-lane design south of Pennsylvania Route 3, ramp meters, and federal scenic route status, prohibiting the erection of advertisement billboards along the entire freeway portion. While the redesigned highway was largely well-received, the constriction to four lanes has led to bottleneck conditions in the area, and many communities that originally opposed the road have now called for its widening.

As of 2007, the road is currently undergoing a complete rehabilitation project, including paving, bridge repair, and ramp maintenance of the entire length of the freeway between Interstate 95 and the Pennsylvania Turnpike.

Northeast Extension

File:Exit44 476.jpg

Approaching exit 44 (PA 663).

The Northeast Extension of the Pennsylvania Turnpike system opened in stages from November 23, 1955 to November 7, 1957, and was originally designated Pennsylvania Route 9.

The hairpin curve at the highway's northern terminus was designed to allow for expansion northward to the New York state line. However, as with the Chester Extension to the south, it was decided to incorporate this segment as part of Interstate 81 following the advent of the Interstate system.

The highway includes a major, 4,461-foot tunnel through Blue Mountain known as the Lehigh Tunnel. The tunnel was named as such so as not to cause confusion with the existing Blue Mountain tunnel on the mainline. The tunnel was originally to be named for Turnpike Commission chairman Thomas J. Evans, but this was changed due to his July 25, 1967 conviction for conspiracy to defraud the Turnpike Commission of $19 million. The Lehigh Tunnel was originally a two-lane tunnel in the manner of the mainline turnpike's original seven tunnels, until it was "twinned" in the early 1990's.

In 1996, after the expansion of the Lehigh Tunnel and the completion of the I-276/I-476/PA 9 interchange, the I-476 designation was extended up the entire length of the Northeast Extension, supplanting the PA 9 designation. This extension resulted in I-476 surpassing the 120 mile Interstate 495 in Massachusetts as the longest auxiliary Interstate highway.

Exit list

County	Location	Mile	#	Destinations	Notes
Delaware	Chester Township	0.00		I-95 - Philadelphia, Chester	Access to Widener University, and Commodore Barry Bridge.
	Ridley Township	0.48	1	MacDade Boulevard	Becomes E. 22nd St. in Chester. Also is a connector to US 13.
	Springfield Township	3.39	3	Media - Swarthmore	Baltimore Pike. to Swarthmore College and Pennsylvania Institute of Technology. to Longwood Gardens use Baltimore Pike South.
	Marple Township	5.07	5	US 1 - Lima, Springfield	to Penn State University's Delaware County Campus and Strayer University. Longwood Gardens - use US 1 south.
	Haverford Township	8.77	9	PA 3 - Broomall, Upper Darby	West Chester University
	Villanova	13.24	13	US 30 - Saint Davids, Villanova	Villanova University, St. Joseph's University, and Rosemont College
Montgomery	West Conshohocken	16.06	16	I-76 - Valley Forge, Philadelphia	Splits into exits 16A and 16B northbound. PA 23: Exit 16A.
				PA 23 - Conshohocken
	Plymouth Meeting	18.81	18	Norristown
		19.40	19	Germantown Pike east - Plymouth Meeting	Northbound exit, southbound entrance.
		19.69	20	Germantown Pike west to I-276/PA Turnpike west	Northbound exit, Southbound entrance. Norristown exit on PA Turnpike mainline. Access to Plymouth Meeting Mall.
		19.97	Southern terminus of Northeast Extension of the Pennsylvania Turnpike. Mid-County toll barrier. Southern terminus of closed ticket system.
		20.33		I-276/PA Turnpike east - New Jersey	Mid-County Interchange on PA Turnpike mainline.
		20.67		I-276/PA Turnpike west - Harrisburg	Southbound exit. Mid-County Interchange on PA Turnpike mainline.
	Towamencin Township	30.78	31	PA 63 (Lansdale) - Lansdale
Bucks	Milford Township	44.39	44	PA 663 (Quakertown) - Quakertown, Pottstown
Lehigh	Lower Macungie Twp.	56.37	Allentown service plaza.
	South Whitehall Twp.	57.71	56	US 22 to I-78/PA 309 (Lehigh Valley) - Allentown, Harrisburg	to LVI Airport and Dorney Park.
Lehigh-Carbon county line		71.68	Lehigh Tunnel
Carbon	Franklin Twp.	76.23	74	US 209 (Mahoning Valley) - Lehighton, Stroudsburg	To western Pocono towns including Jim Thorpe and Palmerton.
	Penn Forest Twp.	86.62	Hickory Run service plaza.
	Kidder Twp.	95.25	95	I-80/PA 940 (Pocono) - Stroudsburg, Hazleton	Access to the Delaware Water Gap.
Luzerne	Bear Creek	105.85	105	PA 115 (Wilkes-Barre) - Bear Creek
	Pittston Twp.	113.42	Wyoming Valley toll barrier. Northern terminus of closed ticket system.
		115.17	115	I-81/PA 315 (Wyoming Valley) - Scranton, Wilkes-Barre
Lackawanna	Taylor	121.61	Keyser Avenue toll barrier.
		122.36	123	Keyser Avenue
	Clarks Summit	131.20	Clarks Summit toll barrier.
		131.37	131	I-81/US 6/US 11 (Clarks Summit) - Scranton, Binghamton, NY	Exit known as Scranton before opening of Keyser Avenue.

See also

• Pennsylvania Turnpike
• Interstate 276

External links

• Kurumi - I-476 Pennsylvania
• I-476 Improvement Project
• PhillyRoads - Blue Route