Interstate 70 in Pennsylvania
Interstate 70 in Pennsylvania
Main page
1778593

Interstate 70 in Pennsylvania

logo
Community Hub0 subscribers
What are your thoughts?
Be the first to start a discussion here.
Be the first to start a discussion here.
Interstate 70 in Pennsylvania

Interstate 70 (I-70) is an Interstate Highway that is located in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in the United States. It runs east to west across the southwest part of Pennsylvania and serves the southern fringe of the Pittsburgh metropolitan area.

About half of this route is concurrent with I-76 on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, which is a toll road. This is the oldest segment of I-70 in Pennsylvania, having been completed in 1940, and is only one of two segments of I-70 that are tolled, with the other being the Kansas Turnpike.

I-70 is one of only a few Interstate Highways to have a traffic signal—in this case, with U.S. Route 30 (US 30) in Breezewood, where it leaves the Pennsylvania Turnpike and heads toward Maryland.

Two segments of I-70 in Pennsylvania are not designed to modern Interstate standards: a 37-mile (60 km) segment from Washington to New Stanton and the aforementioned half-mile (0.80 km) signalized segment in Breezewood.

I-70 enters Pennsylvania from West Virginia, coming into Donegal Township, Washington County. The highway continues northeast as a four-lane freeway with a standard-size median up to Interstate Highway standards through rural areas of woodland and farmland, coming to its first junction at a partial cloverleaf interchange with State Route 3023 (SR 3023), to the southeast of unincorporated village of West Alexander.

Past this junction, the freeway begins to parallel US 40 on the northwest side of the road, before it enters a series of winding curves. From here, I-70 heads east to meet a weigh station and a welcome center in the eastbound direction, as well as an interchange with SR 3024 connecting to Pennsylvania Route 231 (PA 231) via US 40 in the borough of Claysville.

The freeway curves to a more east-northeasterly direction, where it briefly passes through the borough limits of Claysville, before briefly reentering Donegal Township. I-70 enters Buffalo Township, where it soon meets a pair of right-in/right-out ramps connecting to PA 221, which serves the unincorporated village of Taylorstown to the northeast, in adjacent Blaine Township. The freeway comes into North Franklin Township before crossing into Canton Township at its partial interchange with US 40 which lacks a westbound entrance; the interchange is adjacent to the Washington Crown Center shopping mall located to the southwest of the interchange.

From here, I-70 crosses over an abandoned portion of the Allegheny Valley Railroad's W&P Subdivision line and enters mixed areas of development on the outskirts of the city of Washington, which is also the county seat of Washington County. After passing through an interchange with Sheffield Avenue serving the industrial and commercial area of Jessop Place, the freeway enters the city limits of Washington, where it comes to a pair of right-in/right-out ramps that connect to PA 18. A short distance later, I-70 enters South Strabane Township and reaches its western junction with I-79 at a directional interchange, which heads north toward the city of Pittsburgh.

See all
User Avatar
No comments yet.