Interstate 78 in Pennsylvania

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Interstate 78 Main route of the Interstate Highway System
Maintained by PennDOT & DRJTBC
Length:	75.23 mi[1] (121.07 km)
West end:	I-81 in Union Twp.
Major junctions:	US 22 in Union Twp. PA 61 near Hamburg I-476/PA Tpk in Upper Macungie Twp. PA 309 from Dorneyville to Summit Lawn PA 33 in Bethlehem Twp.
East end:	I-78 in Williams Twp.
Pennsylvania State Routes < PA 77 PA 78 > Minor - Legislative

In the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, Interstate 78 is an east-west route stretching from Union Township, Pennsylvania to New York City. I-78 runs for about 77 miles (124 km) in Pennsylvania, from the western terminus at Interstate 81 to New Jersey state line; I-78 continues into New Jersey.

[edit] Route description

I-78 starts in Pennsylvania at an interchange with Interstate 81. It merges with U.S. Route 22 in Lebanon County; the two run together for 43 miles from Bethel Township to Kuhnsville. Near Kuhnsville, U.S. Route 22 splits off from I-78 and becomes the Lehigh Valley Thruway. Near Hamburg at mile marker 29, it meets a major Pennsylvania route; Pennsylvania Route 61. At mile marker 53 after the departure of US 22, Pennsylvania Route 309 merges with I-78 for 7 miles. Dorney Park and Wildwater Kingdom is visible from the freeway approaching exit 54 for U.S. Route 222, which leads to the park. In Summit Lawn, State Route 309 leaves the freeway towards Quakertown at exit 60. Past Allentown and Bethlehem, Pennsylvania Route 33 meets I-78 at exit 71. The last exit in Pennsylvania is Exit 75/Morgan Hill Road which takes you to Pennsylvania Route 611. The Interstate crosses the Delaware River on the Interstate 78 Toll Bridge, leaving Pennsylvania for New Jersey.

[edit] History

Although built to modern-day Interstate Highway standards east of Pennsylvania Route 100, I-78 between PA Rt. 100 and the Berks/Lebanon county line was built mainly to 1960s standards, and have characteristic soft shoulders in most locations, and despite its rural location, a 55 m.p.h. speed limit which is heavily enforced by the Pennsylvania State Police. Prior to the late 1960s, I-78 was to be routed on the Lehigh Valley Thruway across to Phillipsburg, New Jersey, continuing the concurrency with US Route 22; however, due to heavy opposition by residents of Phillipsburg, PennDOT and NJDOT opted to build the new southerly alignment that I-78 is routed on today.

[edit] February 2007

On February 14, 2007, I-78 was closed from Pennsylvania Route 100 in Fogelsville to the U.S. Route 22 split in Union Township due to a winter storm that caused two tractor trailers to make the highway impassable. Other roads like I-80 and I-81 were closed as well. Some passengers were stuck on I-78 for more than 20 hours. Governor Ed Rendell apologized to the hundreds of drivers that were stuck on I-78. The governor said that the I-78 mess was "unacceptable" and that those responsible for clearing the road had communicated poorly. I-78 reopened on February 17.^[2]

[edit] Exit list

County	Location	Mile[3]	#		Destinations	Notes
			Old
Lebanon	Union Twp.	0.00		1A	I-81 south – Harrisburg	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
		0.55		1B	I-81 north – Hazleton	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
	Bethel Twp.	5.85	1	6	PA 343 – Lebanon, Fredericksburg	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
		7.90	1	8	US 22 west to PA 343 – Lebanon, Fredericksburg	West end of US 22 overlap; westbound exit and eastbound entrance
Berks	Bethel Twp.	10.21	2	10	PA 645 – Frystown
	Bethel	12.68	3	13	PA 501 – Bethel
	Bethel Twp.	14.67	4	15	Grimes	No access across I-78
		15.40	5	16	Midway
		16.58	6	17	PA 419 – Rehrersburg
	Strausstown	18.65	7	19	PA 183 – Strausstown
	Upper Bern Twp.	22.71	8	23	Shartlesville
	Tilden Twp.	29.11- 29.35	9	29	PA 61 – Reading, Pottsville	Signed as exits 29A (south) and 29B (north)
	Hamburg	30.19	10	30	Hamburg
	Greenwich Twp.	35.23	11	35	PA 143 – Lenhartsville
		40.27	12	40	PA 737 – Kutztown, Krumsville
Lehigh	Weisenberg Twp.	44.96	13	45	PA 863 – Lynnport, New Smithville
	Upper Macungie Twp.	49.26 49.55	14	49	PA 100 – Trexlertown, Fogelsville	Signed as exits 49A (south) and 49B (north)
		50.89	15	51	US 22 east to I-476 / PA Turnpike / PA 309 north – LVI Airport	East end of US 22 overlap; eastbound exit and westbound entrance
	South Whitehall Twp.	53.67	15	53	PA 309 north to PA Turnpike – Tamaqua	West end of PA 309 overlap; westbound exit and eastbound entrance
		54.12- 51.51	16	54	US 222 (Hamilton Boulevard, PA 222 north)	Signed as exits 54A (south) and 54B (north) westbound
		55.41	17	55	PA 29 (Cedar Crest Boulevard)
	Allentown	57.20	18A	57	Lehigh Street
		57.63	18B	58	Emmaus Avenue south	Westbound exit only
	Summit Lawn	58.83	19	59	To PA 145 – Summit Lawn	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
		59.92	20A	60A	PA 309 south – Quakertown	East end of PA 309 overlap; signed as exit 60 eastbound
		60.30	20B	60B	PA 145 north (South 4th Street)	Westbound exit only
Northampton	Hellertown	66.36	21	67	PA 412 – Hellertown, Bethlehem
	Bethlehem Twp.	71.04		71	PA 33 north to US 22 – Stroudsburg
	Williams Twp.	75.00	22	75	To PA 611 – Easton, Philadelphia
	Easton	77.10	Interstate 78 Toll Bridge over the Delaware River

[edit] See also

• Interstate 78
• Interstate 78 in New Jersey
• Interstate 81 in Pennsylvania
• U.S. Route 22 in Pennsylvania
• Interstate 78 Toll Bridge

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Interstate 78 exits in Pennsylvania

v • d • e Transportation infrastructure of the Lehigh Valley East-west thru highways I-78 · US 22 · PA 248 View of Allentown Skyline looking northwest from the Albert E. Myers (8th Street) bridge. North-south thru highways Northeast extension of the Pennsylvania Turnpike · PA 33 · PA 309 · PA 611 Allentown roads PA 145 · PA 222 · PA 987 · Cedar Crest Boulevard · Lehigh Street · Tilghman Street Bethlehem roads PA 378 · PA 412 · PA 512 · Bethlehem Pike Other roads US 222 · PA 29 · PA 100 · PA 143 · PA 191 · PA 329 · PA 863 · PA 873 · PA 946 Public transportation Lehigh and Northampton Transportation Authority  · Trans-Bridge Lines Airports Lehigh Valley International Airport · Queen City Airport Waterways and Rail Lehigh Canal · Delaware Division of the Pennsylvania Canal · Norfolk Southern Railway

Interstate 78
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