Interstate 376

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Interstate 376
Auxiliary route of the Interstate Highway System
Maintained by PennDOT
Length: 14.70 mi[1] (23.66 km)
Formed: 1972
West end:
I-279/Truck US 19/US 22/US 30 in Pittsburgh
Major
junctions:
US 30 in Wilkinsburg
East end:
I-76/PA Turnpike/US 22/BUS US 22 in Monroeville
Pennsylvania State Routes
< PA 374 PA 378 >
Minor - Legislative
Wikimedia Commons has media related to:
I-376 westbound from the Smithfield bridge, downtown Pittsburgh.
I-376 westbound from the Smithfield bridge, downtown Pittsburgh.

Interstate 376 (I-376) is an auxiliary route of the Interstate Highway System in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. It runs from Interstate 279 in downtown Pittsburgh east to a junction with the Pennsylvania Turnpike (Interstate 76) in Monroeville. A major extension west and north to Interstate 80 near Sharon has been written into law, and will be signed once the route - currently Interstate 279, U.S. Route 22, U.S. Route 30 and PA Route 60 - is upgraded to come close to Interstate standards as agreed to by the Federal Highway Administration.

I-376 forms the east half of the Penn-Lincoln Parkway, known as the Parkway East. The Parkway West runs west from downtown Pittsburgh to Imperial; the majority of it is part of the planned extension of I-376. (The Parkway - and US 22/US 30 - actually takes an exit from the highway near Pittsburgh International Airport, while PA 60 and future I-376 continue straight.) The Parkway is named Penn-Lincoln as it was built as a bypass for the William Penn Highway (U.S. Route 22) and Lincoln Highway (U.S. Route 30). It now carries both routes from Imperial east to Wilkinsburg, where US 30 splits to the southeast while US 22 stays on the Parkway to its end in Monroeville.

I-376 is a total of six lanes for most of its length. However, it is only four lanes through the Squirrel Hill Tunnel, a major cause of congestion. A planned extension of the Pennsylvania Turnpike, the Mon/Fayette Expressway (Turnpike 43), is being designed with an east and west northern terminus that will allow traffic to bypass the tunnel once the highway is completed.

Contents

[edit] Route description

I-376 branches from I-76 near Monroeville; this view is looking westbound along Pennsylvania Turnpike/I-76.
I-376 branches from I-76 near Monroeville; this view is looking westbound along Pennsylvania Turnpike/I-76.
Major cities
Bolded cities are officially-designated control cities for signs


[edit] History

The Parkway East opened June 5, 1953 from PA Route 885 (Bates Street) near the Hot Metal Bridge east through the Squirrel Hill Tunnel to U.S. Route 22 Business (then US 22) at Churchill. In late 1956, it opened from the Boulevard of the Allies (then US 22/US 30) near the Birmingham Bridge east to Bates Street, with the eastbound lanes opening September 10 and westbound opening September 29. The other downtown sections opened in 1958 and 1959, and the extension east to the Pennsylvania Turnpike in Monroeville opened October 27, 1962.[2]

The Parkway East has had the following numbers:

  • 1950s-present: US 22 (whole route) and US 30 (west of Wilkinsburg)
  • 1950s-1961: PA Route 80 (east of Wilkinsburg)
  • 1959-1964: I-70
  • 1964-1972: I-76
  • 1972-present: I-376
I-376 eastbound in downtown Pittsburgh.
I-376 eastbound in downtown Pittsburgh.

The first section of the Parkway West opened October 15, 1953, running from PA Route 60 (Steubenville Pike, then US 22/US 30) near Pittsburgh International Airport east to Saw Mill Run Boulevard (PA Route 51 and US 19). At Steubenville Pike, it connected to PA Route 60 - the Airport Parkway - which had been built ca. 1950[3] as a high-speed surface road to provide access to the airport. The Fort Pitt Bridge opened June 19, 1959, and the Fort Pitt Tunnels completed the route on September 1, 1960. The final piece, from PA 60 west to the US 22/US 30 split at Imperial, opened in 1964.[4][5] Early plans for that section would have instead taken it from PA 60 where it splits with PA Route 60 Business northwest to US 30 near Campmeeting Road at Clinton.[6]

The Parkway West has had the following numbers:

[edit] Future

Signs reading "Future I-376 Corridor" were posted along PA Route 60 in late April 2006. This one is posted along PA 60 southbound/U.S. 422 eastbound in New Castle, Pennsylvania, just before 60 leaves 422 to become Toll 60.
Signs reading "Future I-376 Corridor" were posted along PA Route 60 in late April 2006. This one is posted along PA 60 southbound/U.S. 422 eastbound in New Castle, Pennsylvania, just before 60 leaves 422 to become Toll 60.

Recently the U.S. Congress has designated an expansion of I-376 past the Downtown Pittsburgh area and along present day I-279 past the I-79 intersection and westward along Pennsylvania Route 60 through the Pittsburgh International Airport and north to Interstate 80 in Sharon, Pennsylvania [1]. This would make I-376 depart its parent highway east of Pittsburgh, cross over its parent highway at the Ellwood City exit, where PA Route 60 is part of the Pennsylvania Turnpike system, and end at another major Interstate. This routing requires some major infrastructure work on U.S. Highway 22 west of Downtown Pittsburgh and on PA Route 60; though both are limited access expressways, they are not up to Interstate Highway standards in all areas.

Although work continues, Congress has legislated interstate signage marking the I-80 to I-79/I-279 junction as "I-376" by January 1, 2009, whether the route is up to standards or not. Also, while the expressway takes a more north-south direction from the time it enters Beaver County for the rest of its length, the entire route of 376 will remain signed east-west as opposed to being signed as north-south from near Pittsburgh International Airport onwards north. In addition to the expansion, it is currently planned for the current PA Business 60 in Moon Township to be redesignated as Business Loop I-376.[citation needed]

[edit] Exit list

The entire route is in Allegheny County.

Location Mile # Destinations Notes
Old
Pittsburgh I-279 south (US 22 west / US 30 west / US 19 Truck south) – Fort Pitt Bridge, Pittsburgh International Airport Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
1 1A I-279 north (US 19 Truck north) – Fort Duquesne Bridge, North Shore Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
2 1B Stanwix Street No exit number eastbound (from I-279 south only); originally exit 1[8]
2[8] Smithfield Street Eastbound exit (from I-279 south only) and westbound entrance
3 1C Grant Street
4 1D Second Avenue Westbound exit only
5 2A Forbes Avenue – Oakland Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
6 2B To I-579 / Boulevard of the Allies (PA 885 north) – Liberty Bridge Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
7 3 PA 885Oakland, Glenwood Westbound exit and eastbound entrance; signed as exits 3A (south) and 3B (north)
8 5 Squirrel Hill, Homestead (Blue Belt)
Edgewood 9 7 Edgewood, Swissvale
Wilkinsburg 10 8A US 30 east – Forest Hills East end of US 30 overlap; no westbound exit
11 8B PA 8 north – Wilkinsburg
12 9 Greensburg Pike Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
Churchill 13 10A PA 130Churchill
14 10B
US 22 Bus. east – Monroeville
Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
Penn Hills 15 11 PA 791 north (Yellow Belt) – Penn Hills
Monroeville 16A 14A PA 48 (Orange Belt) – Monroeville Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
16B 14B Plum (Orange Belt) Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
16
US 22 Bus. west – Monroeville
Westbound exit and eastbound entrance leading directly to the PA turnpike
17[8] US 22 east – Murrysville
18 15 I-76 / PA Turnpike Eastbound exit and westbound entrance

[edit] References

[edit] External links